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Updated: May 3, 2026

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
[Congenital malformations among newborns of teenage mothers]
Background:
The Chilean Ministry of Health has reported a meaningful increase of births from teenager mothers (aged less than 20 years) in the period 1990-2008. On the contrary, there was a decrease of births from teenage mothers at The University of Chile Clinical Hospital (HCUCH).
Aim:
To compare the prevalence rates at birth of congenital malformations (CMF) in newborns from mothers younger than 20 with those of mothers between 20 and 34 years old.
Patients And Methods:
The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC) data base of the HCUCH, since 1969 was analyzed. The last ten years (2002-2011) were studied.
Results:
There were 15,636 births in the period studied, 153 of them were stillbirths (0.97%). There were 1174 newborns from teenage mothers, 82 of them had one or more congenital malformations (7%). We found an association between smoking and drug consumption in mothers and CMF in their newborns.
Conclusions:
The rate of congenital malformations among offspring of teenage mothers is lower than the rate for mothers between 20 and 34 years old.
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