title: Teenage pregnancies and their obstetric outcomes.
abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the obstetric performance of teenage women in India. In total, 13,210 women were included in the study, of whom 840 were teenagers (<19 years) and 12,370 were > or =20 years. Antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum events were recorded and comparative analysis was done. We found that teenage women were at a significantly higher risk for development of severe anaemia (relative risk [RR] 1.61, P value <0.02), eclampsia (RR 1.95, P value <0.05), preterm labour (RR 1.25, P value <0.001), intrauterine growth retardation (RR 2.29, P value <0.001) and low birth weight (RR 1.24, P value <0.001). Assisted delivery (11.78% versus 2.23%, P value <0.001) was significantly more common and caesarean delivery (9.64% versus 17.18%, P value <0.001) was significantly less common in teenagers. Moderate anaemia, mild pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia, premature rupture of membranes, antepartum haemorrhage and post dates were all significantly higher in > or =20 years group. To conclude, we found that teenage women are a high-risk group, which is aggravated by social and cultural factors. Special attention is required to educate these women for more positive outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Lady Hardinge Medical College and Shrimati Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi 110001, India.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.forename: Shikha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pasrija
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000592:standards*; D012307:Risk Factors