Running head: Teenage Pregnancy 1

Teenage Pregnancy

Charleah Brown

NorQuest College

NFDN 2006

Assignment 1

Instructor: Rachel Coventry

February 16, 2016

Teenage Pregnancy

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to address teenage pregnancy in Beaumont which is

classified as teens from the ages of 15 to 19 years old and to provide them with the skills

and knowledge they need to have a healthy diet during pregnancy (Alberta Health Trends,

2014). I will discuss the common issues seen as a result of with poor diets in teen

pregnancy and develop a program that will help address this issue. By doing this I will

help empower local pregnant teens in Beaumont to have a healthy diet during their

pregnancy. I will then identify two teaching strategies involved in the program and why

they are effective. Followed by an evaluation on the efficacy of the program.

Background Information

According to Health Trends Alberta (2014) pregnant teens are between the ages

of 15 to 19 years of age, in this group statistics show that there are 32 pregnancies per

1,000 people in Alberta. There are many issues that face pregnant teenage mothers and

their unborn children including financial hardship, mental health issues, physical abuse

and poor nutrition (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2011). Proper nutrition is an important part of

physical health and a healthy pregnancy. Teenagers tend to have poor eating habits which

can be detrimental to healthy fetal development (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2011). These

poor eating habits can be attributed to factors such as socioeconomic status, social

influence, lack of knowledge and skills (McLeish, n.d.). All these factors can lead to poor

nutritional intake and a lack of important nutrients needed for pregnancy including iron,

folic acid, calcium and vitamin A (McLeish, n.d.). This in turn can lead to a low birth
Add the Title of Your Paper 3

weight and premature births often seen with teenage pregnancy (McLeish, n.d.). Low

birth weight and premature birth can lead to cognitive and physical growth impairments

some of these include learning disabilities, heart disease and diabetes (McLeish, n.d.).

Therefore, pregnant teenagers need to be given the right tools to enable them to give

themselves the proper nutrition during pregnancy.

Priority Health Learning Need

The priority health need I will address for pregnant teenagers is proper nutritional

intake for pregnancy. This is a priority need for pregnant teens because proper nutrition

will decrease the incidence of premature births, low birth weight and the health risks

associated with it (McLeish, n.d.). Socioeconomic status, knowledge and skills play a

vital role in the ability of pregnant teens to consume a healthy nutritional diet (McLeisch,

n.d.). An educational need that I see is for this group is access to resources for healthy

affordable food and the knowledge and skills to buy and prepare that food. There is a

class offered in Beaumont called Health for Two it is a class geared towards low income

mothers to teach them about healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. Upon attendance to

this class the mothers are provided with prenatal vitamins and coupons for milk. This is

the class that the local Primary care nurse told me was offered to the pregnant teens in

Beaumont. I think that this class can be helpful for teens but I want to build on this class

by providing these individuals with further knowledge and skills in cooking. I believe by

building on it and giving the individuals the knowledge and skills for cooking I will be

filling a gap in the area of application of what they have learned and how to apply it in

everyday life. I will do this by approaching a local business owner of a restaurant called

the Crepe & Shake and ask her to collaborate with me to create and host cooking classes
Add the Title of Your Paper 4

for pregnant teens at her establishment. This local business owner is known for being

very community oriented and supportive of local youth. The Crepe & Shake is run out of

her converted garage and is open seasonally but I will ask her if she is willing to host

these classes year round. I would also approach the local Leduc food bank and ask if they

would be willing to donate food for these classes. By doing this the food sourced out

would be food that is affordable and accessible to the individuals that depend on the local

food banks for their food. This cooking class would be geared towards healthy eating on

a small budget. I would structure this class by providing it once a week based on two

dollar servings with a take home grocery list and recipes for the participantss. By creating

a cooking class geared towards cheap healthy meals, cooking skills and grocery lists I am

addressing three of the main issues facing pregnant teens when it comes to poor diet

during pregnancy. Which are low socioeconomic status, lack of knowledge and skills

(McLeish, n.d.). By increasing knowledge and skills for healthy eating in pregnant teens

we can decrease the risks of low birth weight, premature births and the health

consequences that come along with that (McLeish, n.d.).

Two Teaching Strategies

In order to tailor the class needs to the students I will establish trust with the

individuals by discussing their eating habits, dislikes of foods, allergies and current skill

level in the kitchen on a one on one basis before they attend classes (McLeish, n.d.). I

will do this on a one on one basis to help them feel at ease and to be able to tailor the

classes to the groups of individuals that will be attending (Lipe Beasley, 2004). This will

increase the likely hood of the individuals’ success by providing them with recipes

tailored to their range of likes and dislikes and any allergies they may have (McLeish,
Add the Title of Your Paper 5

n.d.). This class will then take place as group sessions allowing the pregnant teens to

meet and make connections with other young pregnant teens in Beaumont to promote

social supports and acceptance for them (Lipe & Beasley, 2004).

The first teaching strategy will be a demonstration of how to make the recipe first

so the young women can observe visually how the skills are done (Lipe & Beasley,

2004). After the demonstration the students will then preform the skills to make the

recipes in small groups of two to promote social support and positive influence (Lipe &

Beasley, 2004).

The second teaching strategy will be reading materials that the students will be

sent home with including recipes of the dish made in class, a grocery list for the recipe

and a brochure for her and her family about healthy nutrition for pregnant teens (Lipe &

Beasley, 2004). This will help the students’ families in giving them the information

covered in class and allow them to help and support the student at home with her

nutritional needs while she is pregnant (Lipe & Beasley, 2004).

Description of Teaching Resource Created

The teaching resource I will be giving to the students is a brochure from the UK

called Pregnant Teenagers and Diet about health and nutrition for pregnant teens. It is

geared towards caregivers of pregnant teens but it has great tables of specific foods, their

nutrient contents and if they are safe or not safe for pregnant women. I would give the

teen the pages with information on a healthy diet from this brochure and exclude the

other pages geared towards the caregiver. The brochure is a great resource for pregnant

teens because it gives them reading materials they can refer to anytime for any questions
Add the Title of Your Paper 6

or concerns they may have regarding their pregnancy nutritional needs. I would provide

this to them before class so that they could review it prior to coming to class and ask any

questions they may have regarding it in class.

Evaluation of Teaching Strategies

In order to evaluate the teaching methods, I would spend one on one time

with each individual student asking them to bring a 24-hour food diary to this

meeting. I would then review the 24-hour intake with them and observe their

strengths and weaknesses and ask them what tools they feel they need to improve

on what they are doing. I would then try to integrate any of these tools into the

classes to improve on their areas of weakness.

Conclusion

I learned that there are not a lot of resources in small towns for small

aggregate groups such as pregnant teenagers. I also learned that with a few people

willing to pull something together as a community to help and empower these

groups we not only positively affect them but it also has a positive effect on the

people providing the empowerment. I believe that often times with our learned

prejudice and focus on prevention sometimes other factors get missed like

supporting people who are often overlooked. These people need to feel important

and empowered because they are raising our next generation and they can either

help create a more open minded society or perpetuate the norm of today. Although I

would not promote teen pregnancy I think that it is something that still happens and

we need to provide support to our pregnant teens not only the mother but the
Add the Title of Your Paper 7

fathers as well. I think the fathers get overlooked and without the proper support

and education for both young teen mothers and fathers we cannot help them get to

where they need to be to provide the best possible future for them and their

children.
Add the Title of Your Paper 8

References

Health Trends Alberta (2014) Teenage Pregnancy Rate in Alberta Retrieved from

http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/HTA-2014-01-14-Teen-Pregnancy.pdf

Lipe, K. S., & Beasley, S. (2004). Critical Thinking in Nursing; A Cognitive Sills

Workbook Philadelphia, PA, United States: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

McLeish, T., (n.d) Pregnant Teenagers and Diet; A guide for professionals who work

with pregnant teenagers but who do not have specialist training in nutrition

Retrieved from

http://www.youthspace.me/assets/0000/0177/Young_Parents_Pregnanct_teenagers

_and_diet__Tommys_.pdf

Stanhope, M., Lancaster, J., Jessup-Falcioni, H., & Viverais-Dresler, G. A. (2011).

Community Health Nursing in Canada (2nd ed.). Toronto, ON, Canada: Elsevier

Mosby