Conflict and care in sexual and reproductive health services for young mothers in urban South Africa.

Conflict and care in sexual and reproductive health services for young mothers in urban South Africa.
Cult Health Sex. 2019 Apr 30;:1-15
Authors: Pillay N, Manderson L, Mkhwanazi N
Abstract
In South Africa, sexual and reproductive health services aim to facilitate access to and utilisation of care to young people. We draw on narrative interviews with 45 young mothers and six health care providers delivering sexual and reproductive health services at an urban health centre, to understand how young mothers experienced services in relation to ante- and post-natal care, including termination services. Although health care providers emphasised what they considered young women's 'ignorance' and 'irresponsibility' as central to early and unintended pregnancy; they also expressed their sympathy and concern. In a resource-limited health care setting, with health system inefficiencies and lack of specialised training, there was little opportunity to deliver high-quality care to young women. We draw attention to the need to prioritise the training of health care providers to expand early pregnancy testing and termination services and to deliver patient-centred family planning services to young women.
PMID: 31035891 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Culture, Health and Sexuality - April 29, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Pillay N, Manderson L, Mkhwanazi N Tags: Cult Health Sex Source Type: research