Adolescent pregnancy: a high risk group

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Adolescent Health
• Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Background:

• Teenage pregnancy remains a significant global health concern.
• Adolescent mothers often face unique biological and socioeconomic challenges.
• Understanding obstetric outcomes in this demographic is crucial for improving care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare obstetric behavior and outcomes between teenage pregnancies and a control group of adult women.
• To identify specific complications and delivery methods more prevalent in teenage pregnancies.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study comparing 80 teenage pregnancies (<=19 years) with 80 adult pregnancies (20-30 years) of similar parity.
• Analysis of booked case status, maternal age, parity, socioeconomic status, complications, and delivery methods.
• Comparison of stillbirth and maternal mortality rates between the two groups.

Main Results:

• Teenage pregnancies had lower booking rates (40% vs 56.2%).
• Higher incidence of anemia (27.5% vs 11.2%), intrauterine growth retardation (27.5% vs 8.7%), and hypertension (15% vs 8.7%) in the teenage group.
• Increased forceps delivery rates (17.4% vs 6.2%) in teenage mothers; stillbirth rate was 1.25% with no maternal mortality.

Conclusions:

• Teenage pregnancies are associated with a higher burden of obstetric complications.
• Adolescent mothers require specialized obstetric management to mitigate risks.
• While stillbirths occurred, maternal mortality was absent in this study cohort.