Perceived needs and recommendations on adolescent pregnancy-related services in the Philippines

BACKGROUND: Adolescent pregnancy remains to be a significant social and public health problem in the Philippines, despite the widespread implementation of a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) law. The current study explored the perceptions on teenage pregnancy and adolescent-oriented services across different views of stakeholders. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve focus group discussions involving sets of teenage boys and girls, teenage mothers, and parents of the teenage mothers were conducted. Data analysis using a descriptive qualitative approach adopting both inductive and deductive thematic analysis was implemented on the gathered data. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged from the focus groups. First, discussants expressed community perceptions, emphasizing factors perceived to contribute to the occurrence of teenage pregnancy cases. Second, the adolescents expressed the coping responses they used or have observed in others to cope with teenage pregnancy, while the teenage mothers and their parents highlighted their immediate feelings toward the event. Last, the participants verbalized their perceptions of community services including criticisms and suggestions to improve the delivery of these services. DISCUSSION: The findings underscore the importance of stratifying and customizing the delivery of adolescent services as well as the possibility of expanding the content and coverage of community actions. This study also suggests that there is a need to create local ordinances that are culturally specific based on the Republic Act 10354 or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012. These ordinances must be coupled with other programs on reproductive health including training of personnel, ensuring the availability of resources, and reframing service delivery to the needs of adolescents. Further research is needed to explore variability of perceptions across contexts and cultures and the need for more appropriate service delivery models, thus contributing to a better understanding of teenage pregnancy and more tangible impact toward its reduction.