Neonatal implications of adolescent pregnancy

The neonatal outcome of adolescent pregnancy depends on social, environmental, and biologic risk factors. The presence of these risks, either alone or in combination, can profoundly affect neonatal health, regardless of maternal age. Specifically for adolescent mothers, neonatal outcomes can be influenced by maternal and neonatal factors, mother-infant interactions, feeding practices, relationships with significant others, and health professional intervention. Understanding such factors is essential to facilitating appropriate care for adolescent mothers and their babies. A postpartum assessment tool is described that can provide a focused approach to initial interactions with the adolescent mother and that can act as a vehicle for education as well as data collection for future research in the area.