Latina Adolescent Childbearing in East Los Angeles

by Pamela I. Erickson

• ISBN13: 9780292720947
• ISBN10: 0292720947
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-05-28
• Publisher: University of Texas Press

Summary

Preventing teen pregnancy has become a national goal, but a one-size-fits-all strategy for achieving it may never be found. Because varying social and cultural factors lead to pregnancy among different ethnic/class groups, understanding these factors is essential in designing pregnancy prevention programs that work. This book explores the factors that lead to childbearing among Latina adolescents. Pamela Erickson draws on both quantitative data and case histories to trace the pathways to motherhood for Latina teens. After situating her study within current research on teen pregnancy, she looks specifically at teen mothers enrolled in programs at Women' Hospital in East L.A. She describes the teens' relationships to their babies' fathers and their own families and discusses how these relationships affect whether teen mothers want to become pregnant, their use of prenatal, postpartum, and family planning services, and their ability to prevent a repeat pregnancy. Erickson describes culturally appropriate intervention efforts and assesses the limitations of prevention programs in institutional settings such as schools and clinics.

Author Biography

Pamela I. Erickson is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. viii
List of Tables	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Culture, Norms, and Adolescent Childbearing	p. 9
The East Los Angeles Repeat-Pregnancy Prevention Project	p. 35
Los Angeles, the Hospital, and the Research Team	p. 47
The Latina Teen Mothers	p. 62
Prenatal Care and Birth Outcome	p. 99
Prevention of Repeat Pregnancy	p. 114
Contraceptive Use: The Intervening Variable	p. 129
Implications for America's War on Teenage Pregnancy Postscript	p. 165
Data-Collection Forms and Variables	p. 167
Methods and Variable Definition for Quantitative Data	p. 169
Notes	p. 173
Bibliography	p. 179
Index	p. 191
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