ARPAN Scholar highlight: Alya Hazfiarini
Developing health and medical workforce
In 2025, I received an ARPAN PhD top-up scholarship to support my research on adolescent pregnancy in Indonesia. My PhD is supervised by Prof Meghan Bohren and Prof Caroline Homer (ARPAN Chief Investigators (CI)) and Prof Tari Turner from Monash University.
Adolescent pregnancy is a growing maternal health concern in Indonesia, which has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in Southeast Asia, with 32 births per 1,000 girls aged 15–19 in 2023. However, adolescent girls are less likely than older women to access maternal health services. According to the 2017 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey, only 18% of young women aged 15–24 received antenatal care, compared to 52% of women aged 25–34. For childbirth care, just 17% of young women aged 15–24 received care, compared to 52% in the 25–34 age group. This is concerning, as pregnancy and childbirth complications are among the leading causes of death for adolescent girls worldwide.
Like all women, adolescents have the right to respectful, high-quality maternal care that can prevent and manage these complications. However, they face many barriers, including poverty, limited decision-making autonomy, and stigma. Even when adolescents do reach care, they often face poorer treatment compared to older women.
My PhD research explores Indonesian adolescents' use of maternal care and how adolescents are treated from pregnancy through the postnatal period. I use participatory, arts-based methods to bring together the voices of adolescents and health workers. Between January and July 2025, I conducted photo-elicitation group discussions and interviews with pregnant and postpartum adolescents (10 workshops, 21 interviews), as well as 26 interviews and body mapping with health workers. As part of photo-elicitation group discussions, the girls also co-analysed the data, ensuring their perspectives directly informed the findings. My research took place in Bantul (Yogyakarta Province) and Mataram (West Nusa Tenggara Province), two areas with high rates of adolescent pregnancy.
My PhD research is already starting to gain visibility. In July 2025, I was invited to present at Nahdlatul Ulama University Surabaya, Indonesia, where I shared my research with around 100 undergraduate public health students. In September 2025, I presented at the Australian College of Midwives Conference 2025 in Darwin.
