Abstract
Adolescent status afforded little protection from the physical discomforts of pregnancy, particularly morning sickness and tiredness. Although physical indicators were generally accepted with the pragmatism I came to associate with teenagers, many were nonetheless surprised by the intensity of symptoms:
I had it [morning sickness] quite bad […] it was terrible. I’d be going down the street but then I’d have to come back home and lay down. I felt sick all the time. I couldn’t eat anything. I couldn’t bear the smell of food. It was terrible. (Elenor, 18 years old; 23 weeks pregnant. W)
I was just feeling tired and whatever all the time and it just got worse really. I was feeling more and more tired. Eventually I stopped going to work because I couldn’t get up to go to work. (Lowri, 16 years old; three weeks after the stillbirth of her daughter. W)
One sign of pregnancy, which all the teenagers viewed with a mixture of irritation and amusement, was that of food cravings. Jade referred to herself as ‘mad keen on pickled onions’ while Alys ‘couldn’t stop eating liquorice allsorts’.
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© 2010 Helen Stapleton
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Stapleton, H. (2010). Through Pregnancy. In: Surviving Teenage Motherhood. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230289642_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230289642_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-36784-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-28964-2
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