Pregnancy in teenagers
Topalovska, D.; Batashki, I.; Milchev, N.; Uchikova, E.
Akusherstvo i Ginekologiia 45(2): 17-21
2006
ISSN/ISBN: 0324-0959 PMID: 16637297 Document Number: 602529
Teenage pregnancy is a recognized problem of social and health significance worldwide. World Health Organization considers them as high-risk pregnancies. Teenage birth rates vary by different country. To study the frequency and the obstetric outcome of pregnancy at teenagers in University Hospital "St. George" Plovdiv. Nuliparous women who at the period of the delivery were at 11-19 years old and were seen at the obstetric unit of the above hospital were recruited into the study. Observed complications during the pregnancy and delivery were also calculated. For the period of 10 years the teenage pregnancy rate was 8.22%/n= 958/ of all 11657 deliveries /91.78%/. 901 of the teenagers were aged 16 to 19 years /7.73%/ while only 57/0.49%/ were aged 11 to 15 years. In 69.42% /n= 665/ of the cases the deliveries were not complicated; in 30.58% of the cases there were complications or the delivery ended surgicaly. Pregnancy during teenage years remains major public health problem with lasting repercussions for the teenage mothers and their infants but also for their families and society as a whole. The prevention of the adolescent pregnancy by executing proven and effective programs would decrease its frequency and the complications associated with it.