The experience of teenage pregnancy in the South East of Ireland

This qualitative study considers the spectrum of attitudes and experiences that
make up the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy in the South East of Ireland and
places it in the context of service provision. Seventy interviews were conducted,
fifty-eight of these were transcribed and analysed. Results show that teenagers
often find health care service provision difficult to access on a psychological and
geographical level, young teenagers do not view sexual intercourse as pleasurable
nor do they link it with babies, and an unwanted pregnancy does not always
equate with an unwanted baby. Among the issues raised by health care service
providers was the need for a revision of existing services to make them more userfriendly and the development of specific services in response to adolescent sexual
health needs.