Obstetric outcome of teenage pregnancies from 2002 to 2008: The Sheffield experience

Abstract

We compared the obstetric outcome of 1,922 teenage pregnant women with a control population of 10,550 women aged 20–39 years. The teenage women had a significantly higher normal vaginal delivery rate (65% vs 45%; RR 1.44, 95% CI: 1.38–1.49; p < 0.001) and a lower operative delivery rate compared with control women (elective caesarean section: 1.7% vs 4.9%, RR 0.347, 95% CI: 0.25–0.49, p < 0.001; emergency caesarean section: 13.3% vs 22.9%, RR 0.58, 95% CI: 0.51–0.65, p < 0.001; instrumental delivery: 19.3% vs 26.3%, RR 0.73, 95% CI: 0.66–0.81, p < 0.001). There was no difference in the pre-term delivery rate or in the stillbirth rate between the two groups. When stratified further, there was no difference in the pre-term delivery rate and low birth weight rate between teenage mothers aged 13–17 years and those aged 17–19 years. Teenage pregnant women have better obstetric performance in terms of mode of delivery without an increased risk of stillbirth or prematurity compared with older women.

Keywords:

• Obstetric complications
• teenage pregnancy

Acknowledgements

Our thanks go to Lyn Burgin and Angelina Gittens, teenage pregnancy midwives at the Jessop Wing, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.