Teenage primigravidae: a comparative study

A review of history sheets of obstetric cases recorded in a district hospital in 1992 was done to compare the obstetric outcome in 200 teenage first pregnancies (Study group) with that in Control group i.e. 20 years to 29 years. It revealed that incidence of complications of pregnancy like anaemia, pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and preterm labour were significantly higher among teenage mothers. The normal mode of delivery was commoner in teenagers (82.5%) in comparison to control group (76.5%), probably because of higher number of low birth weight babies. The fetal outcome was significantly worse in teenage mothers with high incidence of perinatal mortality (8%) and low birth weight babies (35%). There was not a single newborn with birthweight above 3500 gms, in teenage group, whereas, control group had 5 babies (2.5%) in the category.