Factors associated with preterm delivery among pregnant adolescents

The purpose was to identify characteristics of pregnant adolescents associated with preterm delivery. We studied 126 poor, black, 12 through 18-year-old pregnant adolescents and compared the prevalence of potentially high-risk maternal characteristics and obstetric complications in those who bore preterm and term infants. Of the adolescents studied, 12 (9.5%) delivered prematurely. Five maternal characteristics--conception within 3 years of menarche, a low body mass index, a past history of physical or sexual abuse, a socially deviant father of the baby, and vaginal bleeding during the first 8 weeks of gestation--were associated with preterm delivery. A theoretical model is proposed and the therapeutic implication of the study findings.