Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Are teenage pregnancies at high risk? A comparison study in a developing country

  • Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to compare obstetric and perinatal outcome in teenage and non-teenage pregnancies.

Methods

We analyzed retrospective data of 15,498 pregnant patients who delivered from March 2008 to April 2009 in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, a referral tertiary care and teaching hospital in Pondicherry, South India. Girls aged ≤ 19 years were compared with pregnancy outcomes in women aged > 19 years who delivered in the same hospital during the study period. A total of 620 teenage pregnancies were compared with 14,878 non-teenage women. The obstetric and perinatal outcome was compared in the study and control groups using t test with Yates correction. We calculated Odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence intervals(CI) and p values; p < 0.005 was considered significant.

Results

The incidence of teenage pregnancy in the study was 4%. A signicant proportion of teenage mothers were in their first pregnancies and their mean age was 18.04 years. Our study showed a significantly higher incidence of anaemia, past dates, premature rupture of membranes (PROM), normal vaginal delivery, episiotomy, low birth weight, and a significantly lower incidence of caesarean sections/perineal tears in teenage mothers compared to other mothers. In contrast, the incidence of hypertension, intrauterine growth restriction of fetus, pre-term labour and postpartum haemorrhage were similar in both the groups.

Conclusion

The data in our study should throw more light on the current thinking of the obstetrical problems facing teenage mothers, in which some of our results support and others refute several long held beliefs about the risks in teenage pregnancy. Early booking, adequate antenatal care and delivery by trained people should improve the obstetric and perinatal outcome in teenage pregnancies, which is still an unresolved problem inspite of various government programmes in developing countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Braine T (2009) Adolescent pregnancy: a culturally complex issue. Bull World Health Organ 87(6):410–411

    Google Scholar 

  2. Jolly MC, Sebire N, Harris J, Robinson S, Regan L (2000) Obstetric Risks of Pregnancy in Women less than 18 years old. Obstet Gynaecol 96:962–966

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Mahavarkar SH, Madhu CK, Mule VD (2008) A comparative study of teenage pregnancy. J Obstet Gynaecol 28(6):604–607

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bukulmez O, Deren O (2000) Perinatal outcome in adolescent pregnancies: a case-control study from a Turkish University hospital. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 88:207–212

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Chen XK, Wen SW, Fleming N, Demissie K, Rhoads GG, Walker M (2007) Teenage pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: a large population based retrospective cohort study. Int J Epidemiol 36(2):368–373

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mayor S (2004) Pregnancy and childbirth are leading causes of death in teenage girls in developing countries. BMJ 328:1152

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Loto OM, Ezechi OC, Kalu BK, Loto A, Ezechi L, Ogunniyi SO (2004) Poor obstetric performance of teenagers: is it age- or quality of care-related? J Obstet Gynaecol 24(4):395–398

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Metello J, Torgal M, Viana R, Martins L, Maia M, Casal E et al (2008) Teenage pregnancy outcome. Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet 30(12):620–625

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Amorim MM, Lima Lde A, Lopes CV, Araújo DK, Silva JG, César LC et al (2009) Risk factors for pregnancy in adolescence in a teaching maternity in Paraíba: a case-control study. Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet 31(8):404–410

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Santos GH, Martins Mda G, Sousa Mda S, Batalha Sde J (2009) Impact of maternal age on perinatal outcomes and mode of delivery. Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet 31(7):326–334

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Thekkekkara T, Veenu J (2009) Teenage pregnancy: a comparative study of the outcome and complications. J Indian Med Assoc 107(1):34–35, 40

    Google Scholar 

  12. Raatikainen K, Heiskanen N, Verkasalo PK, Heinonen S (2006) Good outcome of teenage pregnancies in high-quality maternity care. Eur J Public Health 16(2):157–161

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Yadav S, Choudhary D, Narayan KC, Mandal RK, Sharma A, Chauhan SS et al (2008) Adverse Reproductive Outcomes Associated With Teenage Pregnancy. Mcgill J Med. 11(2):141–144

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Smith GC, Pell JP (2001) Teenage pregnancy and risk of adverse perinatal outcomes associated with first and second births: population based retrospective cohort study. BMJ 323(7311):476

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, JIPMER, Pondicherry, 605005, India

    Haritha Sagili, N. Pramya, Karthiga Prabhu, Mariano Mascarenhas & P. Reddi Rani

Authors
  1. Haritha Sagili
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N. Pramya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karthiga Prabhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mariano Mascarenhas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. P. Reddi Rani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haritha Sagili.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sagili, H., Pramya, N., Prabhu, K. et al. Are teenage pregnancies at high risk? A comparison study in a developing country. Arch Gynecol Obstet 285, 573–577 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-011-1987-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-011-1987-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation