[Congenital malformations among newborns of teenage mothers].

BACKGROUND The Chilean Ministry of Health has reported a meaningful increase of births from teenager mothers (aged less than 20 years) in the period 1990-2008. On the contrary, there was a decrease of births from teenage mothers at The University of Chile Clinical Hospital (HCUCH). AIM To compare the prevalence rates at birth of congenital malformations (CMF) in newborns from mothers younger than 20 with those of mothers between 20 and 34 years old. PATIENTS AND METHODS The Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC) data base of the HCUCH, since 1969 was analyzed. The last ten years (2002-2011) were studied. RESULTS There were 15,636 births in the period studied, 153 of them were stillbirths (0.97%). There were 1174 newborns from teenage mothers, 82 of them had one or more congenital malformations (7%). We found an association between smoking and drug consumption in mothers and CMF in their newborns. CONCLUSIONS The rate of congenital malformations among offspring of teenage mothers is lower than the rate for mothers between 20 and 34 years old.