Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving on

This study explored the psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a University in Ghana. It adopted a qualitative phenomenological research approach underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. Participants involved pregnant and parenting student mothers pursuing degree programmes during the 2023/2024 academic year. Twelve participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. This study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews and observation for data collection. Thematic results indicated that pregnant and parenting student mothers face various psychological challenges such as stigmatisation, discrimination, guilt feelings and low self-esteem, and difficulty with concentration and learning. They revealed that pregnant and parenting student mothers cope with these psychosocial challenges by avoiding contact with other students, prioritising and planning, and making sacrifices as coping strategies and making sacrifices. The study concludes that pregnant and parenting student mothers pursing higher degrees at the university are fraught with numerous psychosocial challenges emanating from colleagues, friends, and lecturers. It further concludes that pregnant and parenting student mothers adopted avoiding contact with other students, priortising and planning and making sacrifices coping strategies. It is recommended that school counsellors should organise group guidance for pregnant and parenting student mothers to enable them to cope with their situation. This would help the smooth integration of pregnant and parenting student mothers and improve their psychological outcomes, which may enhance their academic pursuits.