Palacios, J. F. (2008). Sharing Stories: Understanding Early Childbearing Among Reservation Based Native American Women (Doctoral dissertation, UCSF). 

Abstract

Early child-bearing (ECB), or becoming pregnant at age 18 or younger, is a common and poorly understood event among the Native American population. In 2002 Native American ECB rates of 53.8 per 1,000 live births were higher than total United States ECB rates (42.9/1,000) and White ECB rates (28.6/1,000). In general, regardless of age at childbirth, Native American women have poor maternal/child outcomes compared to other populations, and minimal research has inquired into these women’s ECB experiences.

This interpretive phenomenological study aimed to discover retrospectively the ECB experiences of adult, self-identified Native American women who lived on a particular reservation located in the Western United States. Specifically, this study sought to understand (a) the social context situating women’s ECB experience, and (b) ECB effects on women’s life trajectories.