Adolescent Pregnancy and Its Problems

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the adverse outcomes and problems of adolescent pregnancy.Materials and Methods: Obstetric records of 171 pregnant adolescents between 14-19 years old, who had given birth in our obstetric service between 2009 and 2016 were retrospectively evaluated. The patients were divided into two groups as early adolescents aged between 14 and 15 years old and as late adolescents aged more than 15 up to 19 years old. Babies with birth weight under 2500 gr were evaluated as low-birth-weight. The variables of gestational week at delivery, ratios of preterm birth, stillbirth, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), preeclampsia, and mode of delivery of early and late adolescents were compared.Results: The age of early and late adolescents were determined as 14.6 ± 0.5 and 17.7 ± 0.5 years, respectively. Preterm birth was present in 3 (37.5 %) of early adolescent pregnancies and 66 (40.5%) of late adolescent pregnancies, respectively. While in early adolescent pregnancies, there was no case with stillbirth, PPROM or preeclampsia, in late adolescent pregnancies, stillbirth was observed in 5 cases (2.9%), PPROM in 6 cases (3.7%) and preeclampsia in 4 cases (2.5%). There was no significant difference between early and late adolescents in regards to the gestational age at delivery, obstetrical history, birthweight and ratio of preterm delivery.Conclusion: The result of this study suggests that adolescent pregnancy is an important cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity, and there is a need to increase the attention of health professionals to appropriate management of adolescent pregnancies in order to reduce the health burden and to improve perinatal care of adolescents.