Teenage Pregnancy: Risk Factors, Outcomes, and Possible Targets for Prevention: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Aim : To identify the important risk factors as well as observe some short and long term maternal and perinatal outcomes associated with teenage pregnancy. Methods : A retrospective cohort study of 142 teen age adolescent mothers was carried out over a 2 year period in an inner city teaching hospital and tertiary referral centre in South East London. Results were compared with a control group of 4004 22-29 year old pregnant women over the same period. Results : Our study demonstrates associations between teenage pregnancy and some adverse outcomes, namely low birth weight, low Apgar scores and lower incidence of artificial first feed. But contrary to the published literature, no correlation was found with pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction, preterm labour, operative vaginal delivery and caesarean section. Conclusion : Teen age pregnancy is not always associated with adverse perinatal outcome