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Scenario 1

Conception And Pregnancy

Emma is 17 years old, white, English, and lives with her parents George and Megan, and her younger brother David in the London borough of Brent. George and Megan disapprove of some of Emma’s friends whom they consider to be a bad influence.

George and Megan have lived in the same flat since they were married 20 years ago. George is 40 and works as a train driver for a national railway company and he expects to stay in his job until he retires. He belongs to a close-knit family that settled in the area over 3 generations ago from the north of England and many of them still live locally. He is a lay preacher at the local Pentecostal church.

Emma’s mother Megan, also 40, works as a part-time nurse at the local hospital. Her parents originated from the south of Wales although she was born in London. Megan attends the same church as her husband where she is one of the Sunday school teachers.

Her other child David is 12 years old and attends the local comprehensive school.

Emma has a boyfriend Taiwo, aged 19 years, whom she has been going out with for one year. They have known each other for a long time, meeting at the church they both attend with their families. Taiwo was born in London to Nigerian parents and he has a twin brother named Kehinde (in the Yoruba culture these are names traditionally given to twins). Taiwo is at college studying to be a motor mechanic and he dreams of running his own business in the future. Emma’s parents like Taiwo as they see him as a steadying influence on their lively, outgoing daughter.

Taiwo lives at home with his mother and twin brother and is content and secure within this family environment. He plays football in his spare time and looks forward to seeing Emma at weekends.

Abiola, Taiwo’s mother is widowed and works as a supervisor in a supermarket. She has 2 married daughters who are both older than Taiwo and spends a lot of her time visiting them and the grandchildren. The family last visited Nigeria four years ago for the memorial ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death of her husband.

Recently Emma has been feeling very tired; however she put this down to the extra college work she was having to undertake. Her parents too had even commented on how pale she was looking but agreed with Emma that it was probably due to the increased volume of her studies. There have been a few occasions when she has felt nauseous and the previous week she vomited several times whilst at home. Although her periods are not always regular, this month it is long overdue and she now wonders if she might be pregnant. Emma and Taiwo have only intermittently taken contraceptive action. On the way home from college she goes into the chemist’s and buys a pregnancy testing kit. Once home she ‘does the test’ and the result is positive.

The main issues that the scenario addresses are:

These issues will be explored through the following statements/questions:

The following learning activities will provide students or tutor opportunities to engage with the statements/questions:

The following resources will support the learning activities.

Henley, A. and Schott, J. (1999) Culture, Religion and Patient Care in a Multi-Ethnic Society. A Handbook for Professionals. London: Age Concern Books. (See for example Chapter 39, Nigerian communities: history and traditional culture, pages 420-432)

Schott, J. and Henley, A. (1996) Culture, Religion and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society. A handbook for health professionals. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

 

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