Abstract:
This study focuses on sociological study on the teenage pregnancy
and its negative consequences in Sri Lanka. There are various reasons are
directly influenced to the teenage pregnancy. It is a threat to the mother,
child and the society. Field setting of this study was Elapatha Medical
Officer of Health area in the Rathnapura District. Purposive sampling was
used for this study taking 30 teenage mothers as the sample. Interviews, Case
studies and key informant interviews were used as the primary data and
books, research papers, reports were used as the secondary data. The main
objective of this study was identifying the teenage pregnancy and its
negative consequences and identify the causes of the teenage pregnancy,
recognize the teenage pregnancy as a social problem in the society were the
specific objectives of this study. Consideration of background details of the
respondents of this study majority of teenage mothers were in eighteen years
old and some mothers were still unmarried but they were getting ready for
delivering a baby. 97% of teen mothers were Sinhalese, 3% Tamil and
majority of them were house wives and engaging with tea plucking. Majority
of teenage mother’s first sexual intercourse happened at the age seventeen
years. Parental wish, rape, love affair, early marriage, poor educations were
the socio; economic factors directly influence to be teen age mothers. This
study identified several negative consequences. It was categorized in two
ways as the social consequences and health consequences. Early
motherhood, drop out rates from education, low qualification,
unemployment and low paid salary, live in poor housing facilities on welfare,
child grow up without father, suicidal attempt, addiction to drug and alcohol
of the father were consequences and death of the mothers in a delivery,
abortion, mental and physical risk, depression, low birth weight of pre
mature birth, poor nutrition of the mother and child, anemia, were found as
the health consequences of this study. And teenage mothers have not balance
of domestic works and their marriage life because of the young age. Teenage
pregnancy created social problems and these problems are directly and
indirectly influence to whole society.
