The Mental Health Needs of Low-Income Pregnant Teens: A Nursing-Social Work Partnership in Care

SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://sagepub.com

Y

12

Low Income; Adolescents; Early Parenthood; Prenatal Influences; Stress Variables; Urban Areas; Trauma; Mental Disorders; Health Behavior; Infants; Nurses; Mothers; At Risk Persons; Social Work; Intervention; Home Visits; Prevention; Family (Sociological Unit); Cooperation; Health Services; Pregnancy; Family Violence; Interpersonal Relationship; Drinking; Smoking; Substance Abuse; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

10.1177/1049731514545656

1049-7315

While the rates of teen childbearing have declined in the United States, adolescents who become pregnant and decide to bear and rear their babies are often from low-income, highly stressed families and communities. This article will describe the psychosocial problems of pregnant urban teens and how exposure to interpersonal trauma and current mental health problems may affect their prenatal health behavior, a vulnerable arena that has significance for infant development. It will discuss nurse home visiting as a preventive intervention with proven effectiveness in enhancing maternal prenatal health and behavior and the health and development of children born to mothers at risk, and how a nurse-family collaboration with social workers can facilitate this mission. By providing collaborative care that addresses psychosocial, health, and mental health concerns, interventions like home visiting can reach their full potential.

As Provided

22

2015

EJ1072061