What is it about?
Teenage pregnancy, a social problem distributed worldwide, has serious implications for reproductive outcome, especially in the context of developing countries.
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Why is it important?
Teenage pregnancies have long been considered high-risk. Several social factors have been associated with increased risk of teenage pregnancy and teen pregnancy itself has also been linked to increased risk of adverse medical outcomes. In our study cohort, adolescent mothers had higher rates of social risk factors including low levels of literacy, and low attendance to prenatal care visits. However, the adolescent mothers had fewer obstetric risks, including lower rates of cesarean and operative deliveries compared with adult mothers. The newborns of adolescent mothers had a higher risk of being LBW and to be admitted to the NICU, but they were more likely to be breastfed, and they were discharged from the hospital as soon as infants born to adult women.
Perspectives
Adolescent mothers and their infants have social, obstetrical,and neonatal risk factors that are distinct from adult mothers. Strategies are needed to help break the cycle of those with worse social circumstances, having a higher risk of becoming a teenage parent, which then leads to worse social outcomes for them and their children.
Dr Laura Mihaela Suciu
University of Medicine and Pharmacy Tirgu Mures
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Teenage Pregnancies: Risk Factors and Associated Neonatal Outcomes in an Eastern-European Academic Perinatal Care Center, American Journal of Perinatology, October 2015, Thieme Publishing Group,
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1565917.
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