Births to teenagers: Trends and obstetric outcomes

To compare the trends and obstetric outcomes of pregnancy in teenage women with those of adult women. We analyzed a 19-year (1975–1993) computerized perinatal data base with data on 69,096 births collected prospectively from a single inner-city tertiary medical center. Of all the births, 1875 (2.7%) were to teenagers 12–15 years old and 17,359 (25.3%) were to teenagers 16–19 years old. Over the study period, the number and proportion of births to teenagers of both age groups declined (P < .001 in both cases). The proportions of teenagers 12–15 and 16–19 years old were highest among blacks (4.1% and 28.1%, respectively), followed by Hispanics (2.4%, 24.7%) and whites (1.6%, 23.1%). More than 95% of teenagers had no private health insurance coverage (staff), significantly higher than the 81.6% of mothers aged 20 years or older (P < .001). More than 8.1% of teenagers 12–15 years old had two or fewer prenatal care visits, significantly higher than 6.8% for teenagers 16–19 years old and 7.1% for adults (P < .001). The average gestational age and birth weight were significantly lower for teenagers 12–15 years old compared with those 16–19 years old and adults. Patients 16–19 years of age had longer gestational age and higher birth weight than the adults. The proportion of primary cesarean deliveries among teenagers 12–15 years old was 11.6%, significantly higher than 9.4% for those 16–19 years old and 10.2% for adults (P < .001). On average, females 16–19 years old had better obstetric outcomes than adults, whereas obstetric outcomes for those 12–15 years old were worse than for adults. Therefore, all teenagers should not be grouped together when their obstetric outcomes are compared with those of adults.