Timing the next pregnancy - A Decision-Making Model for Adolescent Parents

The global evidence about the dangers for the mother and child after a short birth interval shows increased risk for adolescent mothers. Adolescent parents usually lack social support and are globally unprepared and unaware of the information that would help them make the right decision about when to have sex and when to conceive. They also lack the skills to make decisions on their own and with a partner regarding relationships, conception, contraception, as well as other adult matters such as job, career, money management, etc. Uninformed decisions put adolescent mothers at increased risk of dying, and of having their pregnancy end in a premature birth or neonatal death. This presentation will explore various programs and projects designed to help couples decide when to conceive that would help adolescent parents and parents in general to delay the first pregnancy, and when that is not possible for reasons explored in this presentation, to space the second pregnancy. The paper discusses the decision-making pathway of unwanted or unplanned pregnancies, and short inter-birth intervals, and analyzes some of the factors that will inform future decision-making processes. This panel presentation will present a practical and simple model for use in health facilities, youth centers, etc. to provide “Conception Decision-Making” (CDM) services to young individuals and couples in developing countries that may also inform services to reduce disparities in the US. The paper also discusses ways of providing CDM services and how to ensure the quality, efficiency and consistency of providers, and present preliminary results of the model in one country.