Comparision of obstetric outcome among teenage and non-teenage mothers from three tertiary care hospitals of Sindh, Pakistan

Objective: to compare the obstetric outcome of teenage pregnancies with that of non teenage pregnancies. methods: a prospective case-control study was conducted in three tertiary care hospitals of sindh, pakistan from september 2008 to november 2008. the data regarding obstetric outcome of all teenagers (13-19 years) delivering in the three hospitals was compared with that of selected non teenage women (20 to 35 years) taken as controls. chi-square and students' t-test were applied with 0.05 as level of significance. results: teenage mothers were more likely to suffer from severe anaemia (8% versus 4.3%; p = 0.03) and chorioamnionitis (2.8% vs 0.8%, p = 0.01) and their infants were more likely to suffer from post maturity (4.6% vs 1.8%, p = 0.02) and meconium aspiration syndrome (6.5% vs 2.4%, p < 0.01) compared to non-teenage mothers. on the other hand they were less likely to be overweight than the non-teenagers. teenagers had instrumental deliveries more often than non-teenagers (7.1% vs 2.2%, p < 0.01). the risk of preterm delivery, low birth weight infant, respiratory distress syndrome, foetal and perinatal death was not significantly different in the two groups. conclusion: teenage mothers are at a higher risk of developing severe anaemia and chorioamnionitis. they are more likely to have an instrumental delivery than non-teenagers. post maturity and meconium aspiration syndrome are the neonatal complications seen in infants born to teenage mothers.