Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

School

Public Health

Advisor

Sanggon S. Nam

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy, a global phenomenon is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, owing to the mother’s individual factors, location, education attainment, and service accessibility. Globally, 16 million babies are born to teenage mothers annually. In Guyana, there is a paucity of information on factors associated with teenage pregnancy rate which stands at 74 per 1,000, and its outcomes. Archived data from the 2014 UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 5 (MICS5) was used to identify and examine relationships between the sociodemographic, socio-economic factors, and teenage pregnancy outcomes in Guyana. This quantitative cross-sectional review approach guided by the Bronfenbrenner theoretical framework analyzed data on 6000 households with a pregnant mother between the ages of 15 to 19. Binary and multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the sociodemographic and socio-economic factors and teenage pregnancy outcomes. The study revealed no significant association between neonatal mortality and antenatal care received, ethnicity, location, mother education, and postnatal care provided by skilled personnel (χ2 (11) = 9.60, p = 0.567). Furthermore, there was no significant association between low birth weight and mother ethnicity, education, location, and wealth index (F (11,191) = 0.91, p = .534, R2 = 0.05). Consequently, this research's findings may impact positive social change by stimulating further studies in the prevention and quality improvement in the management of teenage pregnancy. Moreover, the results could encourage public health professionals to design and implement effective teenage pregnancy prevention programs among Guyana teenagers at an individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels.

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