THE BLOOMING OF THE FLOWERS: PREGNANT ADOLESCENTS’ OPINIONS ON FAMILY PLANNING

Abstract

Exploratory and descriptive research with a qualitative approach, undertaken between March and April 2012 with 7 pregnant adolescents being monitored by the Family Health team, with the objective of investigating their perceptions on family planning. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and from the content analysis two categories emerged: Caring for the garden – knowing the contraceptive methods and the blooming of the flowers – pregnancy in adolescence. The results indicated that there are still weak points regarding the knowledge and use of methods of contraception. In addition to this, the adolescents evidenced ignorance of family planning, although most asserted that the pregnancy was planned, demystifying the notion that a pregnancy in adolescence occurs unexpectedly.

Keywords

• Pregnancy in adolescence
• Family planning
• Contraception