Adverse Maternal, Perinatal, and Neonatal Outcomes in Adolescent Pregnancies: A Case-Control Study

Despite the increase in the age of marriage, early marriage and subsequent adolescent pregnancy remain a serious problem in many regions and societies. Due to low evidence in this regard, this study was conducted to determine the health consequences of adolescent pregnancy.

This was a case-control study.

The present study was performed on pregnant women who were referred to Ayatollah Mousavi hospital of Zanjan for delivery in 2021. Pregnant women with gestational age less than 19 years were considered as the case group and those with gestational age between 19-35 years as the control group. The pregnancy outcomes on the mother and the neonate were obtained through the researcher-made checklist. Chi-square test and student's t-test were used to compare variables between the two groups.

In this study, 169 adolescent and 258 adult mothers were compared as the case and control groups, respectively. The mean age of cases and controls was 17.41±1.22 and 30.66±6.46 years, respectively. Cesarean delivery (34.5% vs. 23.67%, P=0.017) and anemia during pregnancy (16.28% vs. 10.7%, P=0.005) were significantly higher in the control group, while mood disorder after delivery was significantly higher in the case group (11.24% vs. 5.84%, P=0.04). The Apgar score 5 minutes after birth and birth weight were significantly higher in mothers of the control group (P<0.05).

The results demonstrated that adolescent mothers are more prone to postpartum depression, and babies born to these mothers are more prone to low birth weight and a low Apgar score. Therefore, adolescent pregnancy should be managed as a high-risk pregnancy.