[Perinatal implications of pregnancy in adolescent women].

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To establish if there are differences on obstetric and perinatal outcomes between adolescents who are younger than 16 with young adults aging 20 to 24 years old. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A double-cohort prospective and comparative study in 328 Mexican pregnant women. Cohort I included 153 pregnant adolescents younger than 16 years old and cohort II included 175 young adults aging 20 to 24 years old. Inclusion criteria for both groups were: healthy, singleton, primigravidas, with 4 or more antenatal care visits and delivery at institution. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: descriptive, t-test, chi-squared and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Cohort I: Mean age, 15 years old. Mean gestational age on first visit, 22.35 +/- 6.75 weeks. Morbidity was due mainly by vaginitis and vaginosis (p = 0.0001), urinary tract infection (p = 0.110) and anemia (p = 0.0001). Maternal weight on first visit was 54.11 +/- 9.11 (p = 0.001). In cohort II mean maternal age was 22 years old with a mean gestational age on first visit of 19.58 +/- 7.94 weeks. Main morbidity was: urinary tract infections, vaginitis-vaginosis and preeclampsia (p = 0.191). Mean maternal weight on first visit was 60.37 +/- 9.99. Gestational age on delivery and birth weight were not statistically different between newborns in each group. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy in adolescents should be considered of risk; nevertheless, adequacy in antenatal care provides good obstetric and perinatal outcomes.