Twin pregnancy: adolescents versus adults

Various nations, and this could create a new era of very young mothers which apply an additional pressure on obstetrical and neonatal health system. In cases of twin pregnancy, the burden would be maximized. The aim was to highlight the differences of obstetrical and neonatal outcomes of twin adolescent pregnancy compared to adults.

Data were collected prospectively over five years from a tertiary obstetric and neonatal center. Two categories of twin pregnancies were formed from adolescents as the case group and adults as controls.

The adolescent group included 59 women and adults numbered 782. The adolescents had significantly higher rates of very preterm delivery, defined as gestational age [(GA) 28≤32 weeks] [odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 2.64 (1.26-3.92)], p<0.05], and significantly lower mean GA than adults (36.6±4.1 versus 37.8±2.6, weeks respectively). Babies delivered to adolescents had significantly lower mean birth weight (1936.5±0.604 g), birth height (43.4±4.3 cm), and occipitofrontal circumference (OFC) (30.8±3.3 cm). Moreover, there was a significantly higher frequency of neonates with APGAR score <7 at the fifth minute [31 (52.54)], low birth weight [53 (89.83)], and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission [38 (64.41)].

Twin adolescent pregnancy had significantly elevated metrics for obstetric and neonatal complications, which were especially notable for very preterm delivery, low neonatal birth weight and short birth length, and reduced OFC, APGAR score <7 at the fifth minute, and NICU admission rate.