Pregnancy in Adolescence as a Challenge for the First Level of Healthcare

Abstract

Introduction: Pregnancy in adolescence is that one occurring in the period of life from the age of ten to nineteen years old. It occurs before the mother has reached enough emotional maturity to take on the complex task of motherhood. Worldwide, an increase in adolescent sexual activity is recognized; it is a social concern that affects, to a greater or lesser extent, all regions of the world.

Objective: To define the scope and nature of the existing scientific literature on adolescent pregnancy, as well as its prevention and complications.

Methods: Systematic bibliographic review carried out in view of a reflective-critical analysis of documents, which included books, doctoral and master's theses, as well as original and review articles. The search strategy used in each database, SciELO and Google Scholar, was designed by accepting the descriptors Adolescencia [Adolescence], Embarazo [Pregnancy], Prevención [Prevention] and Complicaciones [Complications], with the Boolean operators AND and OR.

Conclusions: For the prevention of pregnancy in adolescence, greater spread of its consequences and ways for avoiding it is needed, which could be achieved with the implementation of educational strategies in a didactic and pleasant way, in order for it to become of interest to adolescents.