Teenage pregnancy: still an obstetric risk

Abstract

A 30-month retrospective and comparative study of the obstetric performance of teenagers and females between 20 and 24 years was performed at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria. The prevalence of teenage birth was 21·8 per 1000 deliveries. Females aged 2024 years performed better than teenagers with respect to booking status, marital status, preterm delivery, low birth weight and perinatal morbidity. There was no difference with respect to pre-eclampsia caesarean section and perinatal mortality. Teenage birth is still an obstetric risk factor. There is need to foster the advocacy and reproductive health programmes against adolescent pregnancy and teenage marriage.