Experience with an adolescent pregnancy program. A preliminary report.
A program has been designed to give comprehensive health care services to pregnant adolescents. The program components include community liason, patient education, counseling and social services, a nurse "on call" program for labor and delivery, and pediatric nurse-practitioner followup. In addition, a drug use identification component screens the patients by interview and urinalysis. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy occurred in 10% of the first 202 patients. Forty-three percent had anemia (hematocrit less than 35%), and screening cervical cultures for gonorrhea were positive in 3.5%. Cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana constituted the most common nonmedical drugs used, and aspirin the most common medical drug. Eighty-one percent of the patients attended 7 or more antenatal visits, one-half did not miss a single clinic appointment, and 95% completed a post-partum visit, indicating that the program was well accepted by the adolescents.
D000293:Adolescent; D003191:Comprehensive Health Care; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D008396:Maryland; D008427:Maternal Health Services; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular; D011295:Prenatal Care; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders