Objective
  This study aims to describe the changes in the psychosocial aspects of women from southern Thai who gave birth during their teenage years and also considers support from the maternal care perspective.
Methods
  The present study adopted a qualitative descriptive method. Nine postpartum southern Thai women were interviewed about changes in their lives and their psychological conditions from pregnancy to postpartum. The data was codified, categorized by similar codes, and then analyzed.
Results and Discussion
  The participant’s average age was 16.8 years, of whom seven were primiparas and two were multiparas. Among them, four had not completed compulsory education. All pregnancies were unplanned, and the participants exhibited low rates of sex education. They could not exercise effective self-management with respect to health during pregnancy. One birth was premature and of the nine newborns, five had low birth weights. The participants were raised in poor families and had an “inferiority complex” due to the same. They could not successfully build personal relationships; “school life was not fun, and was interrupted.” With a “purposeless life following withdrawal from school,” they found a romantic partner and became pregnant. After confirmation of their pregnancy, each became upset and found themselves in a state of psychological crisis. After confessing to their parents and after being encouraged by them to get married, they experienced major changes toward “relief at being acknowledged of their circumstances and a positive awareness toward childbirth.” After childbirth, they experienced “growing affection toward their child” and “positive feelings about child care.” We also heard discussions about “a positive view toward school to find employment.”
  In spite of the fact that the area concerned was equipped with medical facilities and administrative-level maternal and child healthcare systems, the participants did not receive guidance regarding education and consultation or guidance on reproductive health within the community. Participants were inexperienced, and their ability to access the available social resources remained low. Proactive outreach regarding the ability to participate in the community is necessary in preventing unwanted teenage pregnancies and also for life after childbirth. Especially, comprehensive education about reproductive health needs to be provided by the community for those who have left school before completing compulsory education. Training for peer supporters and assistance by networking with local residents along with promoting the formation of teenage childcare groups are deemed necessary.

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  Improvements in the performance of health personnel are being sought in an effort to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). Emphasis has thus been placed on the development of health personnel as part of a national UHC strategy throughout the world. In light of this, we planned the present symposium as a means of reviewing the current nursing trends in Southeast Asia and to investigate the issues facing the practical development of nursing personnel, as well as the future directions of nursing support, with a deliberate focus on UHC.
  At the symposium, changes in health issues in Japan, the contributions of nursing professionals in achieving UHC, and the educational programs required by Japanese nursing personnel for international cooperation were first presented. Next, the status of health personnel in Southeast Asia was reviewed. In particular, the status of the regulatory frameworks regarding nursing personnel and the measures for enhancing the practical ability of nurses through legal means were introduced separately for Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Subsequently, as case examples of emerging countries in Southeast Asia, the nursing policies of Thailand and Indonesia were reviewed, measures for improving the practical ability of nurses through legal means in Indonesia were introduced, and support for enhancing networks within autonomous regions was proposed.
  International cooperation in the field of nursing requires strategic and comprehensive support for the development of nursing personnel in healthcare systems variable to economic growth and the means by which to achieve this are diversifying. Indeed, the symposium indicated the importance of responding to the diversity of support by enhancing networks of Japanese individuals involved in international cooperation and providing support for the enhancement of independent networks in Southeast Asia.

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