[Maternity in adolescence: obstetrical analysis and review of the influence of cultural, socioeconomic and psychological factors in a retrospective study of 62 cases].
OBJECTIVE
To analyse obstetrical outcome of teenage pregnancies and conditions of discharge from the maternity ward.


METHODS
A retrospective study of 62 deliveries of women 13 to 17 years old, between 1997 and 2000.


RESULTS
A majority of patients is aged 16 or 17 (92%); 46.8% of teenagers were born in a sub-Saharan African country. The teenagers do not go to school in 45.2% of the cases. The first visit to hospital is late in the pregnancy (40.3% had their first visit after 30 weeks of amenorrhoea). There was no follow-up at all for 17.7% of the pregnancies. The obstetrical outcome is normal in 66.2% of the cases; 93.5% of the children were born after 37 SA and had a normal weight for gestational age; 93.5% were discharged from the maternity ward with their children. A specific follow-up took place for 36.2% of the women. Compared with women from other origins, teenagers born in sub-Saharan Africa more often live with their boyfriend (P = 0.03), who is likely to be over 25 (P = 0.001). Sub-Saharan African women more often return and live at the father's home (P < 0.001) and a specific follow-up proves less often necessary (P = 0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
In developed countries, obstetrical outcome of teenage pregnancies is generally good if the women are more than 15 years old. In some cases, teenagers want to have a child for socio-economical, cultural or psychological reasons. There is a great variability of interpersonal situations as shown in this study, where a better prognosis was found in sub-Saharan African teenagers. It is recommended to permit an early access to the maternity hospital and to provide economical and psychological support during and after pregnancy.
Faucher
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Service de gynécologie-obstétrique, hôpital Bichat-Claude-Bernard, 46, rue Henri-Huchard, 75018 Paris, France. philippe.faucher@bch.ap-hop-paris.fr
Dappe
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Madelenat
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D000293:Adolescent; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D003469:Culture; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors