Pregnancy outcome between adolescent & adult primigravidae

BACKGROUND: Research question: Is there any difference in the outcome between Adolescent pregnancy and pregnancy in the adult mothers i.e. 20 – 29 yrs. Aim: To compare the perinatal and maternal outcome of pregnancy between the adolescent and older primigravidae. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a Hospital-based comparison study. 100 adolescent primigravidae who delivered in the teaching hospital during July 2011 to Dec 2011 were taken as study population and 200 primigravidae in the age group of 20-29 yrs who delivered in the same hospital during the same period were taken as the comparison group. Both the groups were assessed to compare the differentials in the outcome. RESULTS: Mean age of adolescent mothers was 18.2 yrs and their mean age at marriage was 16.2 yrs. Literacy status was lower among adolescent mothers. 63% of adolescents had anaemia as compared to 48% of adult mothers. Complications like gestational hypertension and preterm deliveries were significantly higher among adolescent mothers. The frequency of Low Birth Weight was higher (29% vs 18%) and the average birth weight was 2.3 kgs among teenage mothers. CONCLUSION: Preterm delivery, gestational hypertension and LBW were reported high among adolescent mothers and this indicates that encouraging girl child education, discouraging early marriages and delaying first pregnancy will definitely help adolescent girls.