[Teenage pregnancy as a risk factor for fetal abuse]

To identify if pregnancy in adolescence is a risk factor for fetal abuse.

A case-control study of 333 mothers that made fetal abuse and its controls, was made between October 2005 and May 2006 at the Nuevo Hospital Civil de Guadalajara Dr. Juan I. Menchaca. The fetal abuse was considered when the prenatal attention was deficient and was documented illicit drugs or physics violence to the mother. The fetal abuse was documented by means of a direct interview to the mother. Was realized a descriptive analyze of different forms of fetal abuse. The odds ratio was calculated for association between adolescent mother and fetal abuse.

The prenatal attention was deficient in 284 (69.7%), illicit drugs abuse in 100 (24.5%) and physics violence to the mother en 69 (20.7%). The adolescent mothers had more deficient prenatal attention that adult mothers (54 vs. 37.7%), used more illicit drugs (25.6 vs. 16.6%) and received more physics violence (4.9 vs. 2.8%). The pregnancy in adolescent was associated with fetal abuse OR: 1.9 (95% CI: 1.39-2.71).

The pregnancy in adolescent is a risk factor to fetal abuse and the form more frequent was the deficient prenatal attention.