Clinical Outcomes of Teenage Pregnancy: A Case Study in Chonprathan Hospital

Abstract

Background and Objective:Teenage pregnancy is a risk factor to both mother and newborn. This study aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of teenage pregnancies with those of adult and studied the association of antenatal care on clinical outcomes of teenage pregnancies.

Methods : A retrospective cohort study was conducted in teenage pregnant women (aged <20 years) and adult pregnant women (aged 20 to 34 years) who were primigravida and delivered during 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012. The outcomes were complication of pregnancy, perinatal and neonatal outcomes.

Results : There were 231 teenage pregnancies and 503 adult pregnant women included in this study. The  teenage group had fewer prenatal visits and lower hematocrit than adult group. The premature and low birthweight infants were more common in teenage group than in adult group (15.6% vs. 10.2% and 16.0% vs. 11.1%, respectively) but these relations were  non-significant when analyzed and adjusted for levels of education, employment status and antenatal care. In teenage pregnancies ,complete antenatal care could reduce the risk of preterm labor and low birthweight infant (91.6% for preterm labor and 80.6% for low birthweight infant) when compared with non-antenatal care group.

Conclusion : Teenage pregnancies had a higher incidence of preterm labor and lower birth weight in newborn. Poor antenatal care was an important preventable factor. Teenage pregnant woman should be encouraged to attend the adequate antenatal care to prevent complications that might occur.