Hospital-Based Study of Maternal, Perinatal and Neonatal Outcomes in Adolescent Pregnancy Compared to Adult Women...

Adolescent pregnancy, defined as a pregnancy in girls aged 10 to 19 years. Adolescent mothers are at high risk for maternal and neonatal complications.

To compare maternal, perinatal and neonatal outcomes in adolescents and adult women aged 20-24 years.

This retrospective cohort study included all singleton pregnancies during a three-year period (January 2016-December 2018) who gave birth in a Clinical Hospital in Tetovo, Republic of Macedonia. After exclusion criteria, a total of 932 cases were reviewed and divided into two groups: one of the teenage mothers (< 19 years old) (115 women) and the other of adult mothers (20-24 years old) (817 women).

Of the total number of 5643 births, 128 (2.27%) were from adolescent pregnancies. Of them, nulliparous adolescent women were 115 (2.04%). Adolescents compare to adult mothers had a higher rate of urinary tract infections (33% vs. 22%), increased rate of maternal anemia (26% vs. 15%), preterm birth, small for gestational age newborns (25.2% vs. 17.1%), lower high school attendance (0 vs. 21.9%) and inadequate prenatal care. Spontaneous labour was more common in adolescents (73% vs 63.5%), while Caesarean sections were less common than in women aged 20-24 years (25.2% vs 33.5%). The rate of other perinatal outcomes was not significantly different between the 2 groups.

The results of the study showed that the frequencies of some maternal, perinatal and neonatal complications were considerably higher in adolescent mothers.