LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Life as a teen mom can be incredibly tough but female teenage resilience also paints a portrait of struggles and triumphs as a teen mom navigates life as a student mother.
Teenage pregnancy is viewed as a social issue by tribe folks in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) that impacts families and the immediate consequences for mother and child are indeed challenging. Teenage pregnancy is a major concern in the Cordillera.
Being pregnant at teenage is risky that can involve complications, explained the Department of Health (DOH –CAR). DOH’s 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey revealed the number of pregnant women in CAR increased in the past four years.
CAR teenage pregnancy was 61 per cent in 2022, an increase of 2.6 per cent from 3.5 per cent in 2017, placing CAR ranked first among regions with the highest increase in teenage pregnancy.
On the other hand, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) found how CAR tribal families have opted to raise fewer children but then, teenage pregnancy incidence remaining on high spike.
There are so many teen moms in CAR communities who have vital stories to tell of their joys, frustrations, resilience and courage that three indigenous females from CAR decided to study these.
Teenage pregnancy is in fact at the forefront of CAR’s health and policymakers’ collective consciousness, with adolescent women and their sexuality of regional concern.
BSU sociologists Ann Heather B. Kiwang, Mursha D. Gapasin and Giby B. Banes of the College of Social Science, Institute of Research and Development of Benguet State University (BSU) delved on how lives of female students totally changed upon learning they became pregnant.
Their study, titled, “Parenting Too Soon: Education and Child Care Concerns of College Student Mothers in the Cordillera Administrative Region” is incorporated in the latest volume of BSU’s prestigious Mountain Journal of Science and Interdisciplinary Research.
Their study looked into the experiences and outlook of student mothers regarding their multiple roles as parents and college students, further investigating into the coping strategies of the student-mothers related to their reproductive health needs while identifying sources of support.
Even with the best of intentions and support, teen parenting places huge stress on the young people involved. And without family support, the odds are often stacked against young mothers, the three BSU staff members discovered. Family support in their midst of teenage pregnancy is deemed vital.
Twenty-five student mothers enrolled at BSU and Mountain Province State Polytechnic College during the school year 2021 opted to become respondents to give face to the study. The young teenage mothers whose stories are at the heart of the study made the research possible because of their candor, honesty and friendship that made the study more meaningful.
Diligent process was implemented to protect identities of the student-mothers who willingly participated in the study, of which its approval was first obtained from the presidents of BSU, the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College, in coordination with other faculty members and the guidance and counseling units of the two government institutions.
All the respondents resumed their studies at the time of the conduct of the study, the student-mothers ages ranging from 15-20 years old.
Anxiety, uncertainty and fear were the common feelings the students felt upon knowing they got pregnant. One statement from a respondent: “Noong nalaman kong buntis ako, sobra akong natakot dahil nasa first year college pa ako at ako na lang ang inaasahan ng pamilya ko na makapagtapos ng pag-aaral. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang gagawin ko o papano ko sasabihin sa pamilya ko ang nangyari.”
Another narrated to the BSU sociologists: “ Sobrang nalilito! Hindi ko alam kung kanino ko muna sasabihin; paano ko sasabihin. Maraming tanong, paano na ang future ko. Hindi ito pwede; ayoko; mga ganoon . . .”
One respondent got emotional and explained, “When I found out that I was three weeks pregnant, I cried a lot. I was afraid of losing my dream and was scared of what people say, and most of all, I was afraid to see the disappointment in my mother’s face. I was very stressed and anxiety woke up like a hungry lion.”
This respondent continued by further adding, “I didn’t know what to do. To be honest, I was thinking of abortion. But GOD did not let me do so. He showed me situations that helped me realize that I was following the wrong path as a pregnant mother. He presented me friends who supported me all the way until I gave birth to my child.”
Still, another respondent tersely quipped, “My initial reaction is that I was shocked. I’m having mixed emotions, nervous, afraid of being judged by others and mostly, takot sa parents ko kung anong sasabihin nila. At inisip ko na ipalaglag ang bata.”
Some respondents revealed they attempted to terminate their pregnancy. One student mother tried drinking an herb concoction that was supposed to cause miscarriage. It didn’t work and she discontinued it after her first try; she decided at last her baby shall live.
Some respondents revealed a drug which, according to them, was accessible from unscrupulous vendors in Baguio City. While they were able to have gotten hold of said drug, they did not use it as fear of abortion compelled them not to do so.
Experience of the respondents who have purchased the drug at a Baguio sidewalk raises concerns on the availability of unregulated abortifacients which endangers lives of both mother and the unborn.
These BSU-based researchers focused on the relationship between early childbearing and educational attainment, exploring whether having a child cuts short a teen parent’s schooling. Given their age as adolescents, a time when they need to concentrate on their studies and given the vital influence of education in landing an employment, researching on the effects of child-rearing has on schooling made sense.
All the respondents stated that upon learning they were pregnant, they experienced common feelings bordering on anxiety, uncertainty and fear. Most of them never thought of using any contraceptive method even when they were already sexually active.
Some of the respondents explained they were happy about their pregnancy while most shared the predicament on how to break the news of their pregnancy to parents. As expected, when informed of their pregnancy, all the parents exploded in outright anger and were distressed.
Teenage pregnancy is one among the biggest fears of parents regarding their female daughters. CAR families growing in close-knit units, to the point of being clannish, adhere to the dictum that marriage is honorable, a precept that continues to resonate today, thus, no wonder about parents’ anger when they realize their female teenage child has prematurely crossed a sensitive border line.
A glaring truth as what the BSU and Mountain Province State Polytechnic College respondents discovered: that teenage pregnancy doesn’t only affect the teenager and her parents; it often reshapes their family life. While some of the student-mothers rose above the circumstances, others pointed out they wished they never ventured down that path that early.
Many of them regretted getting pregnant early but nonetheless explained such experience made them mature and more motivated to continue their studies.
While rearing their respective babies, they dealt with amplified adjustments to meet both academic and maternal demands.
Still, the most important fact about teenage pregnancy as clearly illuminated by the BSU study was that despite the predicament of the teenagers, “the parents still continued to be sources of support, their children and the new family.” Clearly, such a foundation points to a good thing about tribal folks being clannish. That they wouldn’t allow one of their family members to go it alone when he/she is in dire straits.
Most of the respondents, during their pregnancy period, availed of services in their respective rural health units as they experienced several health problems ranging from common colds, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal reflux diseases and bleeding.
For most of them, they have to overcome challenges and adjustments as parents while being students at the same time. They stopped schooling after giving birth to take care of their babies and were able to return to school because their parents and other members of their families shouldered looking after their babies.
Often, when teenage pregnancy occurs, focus tends to be on the teenager’s future and societal reaction, while the parents’ heartbreak and pain get sidelined. Parents often carry the burden of being judged by members of communities when their teenage daughters become pregnant.
In most cases, such a situation puts pain and disappointment among the parents who feel they failed in upbringing of their children. While it’s universally true that not all children need parents advice, it doesn’t take away the hurt that parents feel when things go bad.
Emotional toll on parents can stretch as far as broken trust, or parents feeling a sense of betrayal; living in worry, parents concern that the same (teenage pregnancy) will occur again to one of her kids; jacked up anger, parents becoming one to outbursts and, feeling of guilt and shame.
For the parents of these student-mothers, behind their emotional outburst are hearts that have been hurt, spirits wounded and minds grappling with unanswered questions and shame.
In all, the student mothers who belong to various tribal groups in Cordillera continued to live with their respective families during and after pregnancy, thanks in part to the clannish mind of highlanders, an arrangement that proved very helpful in terms of child-rearing and provision of basic needs for the infants.
As one respondent summed it up in the study: “Support is from family and I am very thankful to them for not giving up on me.” Her words magnificently echo the gratitude of all the respondent student-mothers to their respective parents.
