Page 176 - GHR_NursingCMU2024_Final.indd

Well-being Experiences of Adolescent Mothers Returning to Formal Education:
A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study

P. Inta, N. Chaloumsuk, H. Sethabouppha, and P. Thungjaroenkul 1
1
1
1
Faculty of Nursing, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
1

Background: The well-being of adolescent mothers will drive them to be healthy and able to balance
motherhood and student life. However, adolescent mothers in formal education institutes had challenges
balancing being full-time students and parents simultaneously. As well-being varies within the social
norms and contextual expectations, exploring the well-being experiences of adolescent mothers
returning to formal education with a feminist perspective on gender inequality, inequities, and the
oppression of women in Thai society is needed.

Objective: To gain a better understanding of subjective well-being experiences, including meaning,
facilitators, and barriers to well-being experiences as perceived by Thai adolescent mothers returning
to formal education.

Methods: Within a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and a feminist perspective, in-depth
interviews were conducted with fifteen Thai women giving birth at ages 15-19 years who had experience in
childbearing and studying in formal education systems within the first two years after birth in Phitsanulok,
Thailand. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological
analysis. The criteria of credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability were employed in order
to ensure the trustworthiness of the finding.

Results: Thriving on the challenges of being a mother and a student is the essence of the experience
of Thai adolescent mothers returning to formal education. Four themes were identified: ‘Motherhood is
Oral Presentation Abstracts
a source of power,’ ‘Turning mistakes into motivation for future,’ ‘Giving yourself validation rather than
seeking from others’, and ‘Need for support for achieving a student-mother life balance.’ The data
describes an understanding of well-being experiences among Thai adolescent mothers as feeling
fulfillment when the dual roles of motherhood and student balance.

Conclusion: Nurses and midwives should incorporate these findings when providing support to
facilitate well-being among Thai adolescent mothers returning to formal education. Including
facilitating the transition to motherhood, empowering the adolescent mothers’ self-validation through
nursing intervention, and providing strategies to handle dual role challenges.

Keywords: adolescent mothers, returning to formal education, well-being experiences

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Correspondence: Pornpan Inta, Faculty of Nursing, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
E-mail: pornpan_i@cmu.ac.th

174