Particularities of Pregnancy and Childbirth among Adolescents’ Girls in the University Teaching Hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo (UTH-YO) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Abstract

Objectives: To study the particularities of pregnancy and childbirth among adolescent girls at the University Teaching Hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo (UTH-YO) of Ouagadougou. Patients and Method: This was a comparative, descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study conducted over a 6-month period on 138 adolescent girls and 276 adults who gave birth in the obstetrics and gynecology department of the University Teaching Hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo (UTH-YO) in Ouagadougou during the study period from May 1 to October 30, 2017. The statistical analysis had used the Chi square test and the strength of the association was appreciated by the Odds Ratio (OR). The significance threshold was set at 5%. Results: Adolescent girls had an average age of 17.04 ± 0.72 years and 64.49% were married. The majority came from urban areas and was educated. Housewives were more represented with 73.2% and 65.94% of adolescent girls were of low socioeconomic status. Concerning the level of education, 48 (34.7%) were out of school, 57 (41.3%) had primary level, 32 (23.2%) secondary level and 1 (0.7%) higher level. Primigravida was the most numerous and only 39 adolescent girls used a contraceptive method. Malaria (p = 0.0247), preeclampsia (p = 0.0008) and anaemia (p = 0.0002) dominated pathologies during pregnancy in adolescent girls. The pelvis was borderline in 10.8% of adolescent girls. For newborns, teenage girls had a lower weight and an Apgar score of less than 7 higher.