The incidence and complications of teenage pregnancy at Nongkhai Hospital

Abstract

Objective : This study was aimed to determine the incidence of teenage pregnancy and compare obstetric and neonatal complications of teenage mothers with adult mothers aged 20 - 25 years at Nongkhai Hospital, from January 1^st, 2003 to December 31^st, 2007.

Material and Method : This is a retrospective study conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nongkhai Hospital, Thailand. The study group consisted of primigravida women aged 13-19 years who delivered at Nongkhai Hospital from January 1st, 2003 to December 31st, 2007. The control group consisted of primigravida women aged 20 - 25 years who delivered during the same period. Demographic, obstetric, and neonatal complications informations were collected and compared between the study and control groups.

Results : The study group consisted of 1,492 women and the control group consisted of 2,816 women. The incidence of teenage primigravida at Nongkhai Hospital was 126 cases per 1,000 mothers. The study group had more no antenatal care and inadequate antenatal care than control group (3.22% vs 1.42% p< 0.001 and 20.84% vs 15.42%, p< 0.001 respectively). The obstetric complications that were higher rate in study group than control group were, namely premature labor (10.79% vs 8.52% p<0.001) and anemia (17.69% vs 11.97% p< 0.001). Vaginal delivery was the major route of delivery in the study group. Low birth weight in the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group. (19.80% vs 12.55% p<0.001)

Conclusion : The incidence of teenage pregnancy was 12.6%. Teenage mothers had higher incidence of receiving no antenatal care and inadequate antenatal care. The most common obstetric complications in the teenage pregnancy were preterm labor and anemia. The neonatal complication in teenage pregnancy was low birth weight.