These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Pregnancy outcomes among adolescent and older women receiving comprehensive prenatal care.
    Author: Leppert PC, Namerow PB, Barker D.
    Journal: J Adolesc Health Care; 1986 Mar; 7(2):112-7. PubMed ID: 3957748.
    Abstract:
    This study compares three birth outcomes, gestational age, birthweight, and type of delivery, among adolescent and older mothers. Data were collected from 911 women who attended a comprehensive prenatal-care program in a large urban teaching hospital. Women aged 13-19 years were at increased risk for low-birth-weight babies (less than 2500 g) and for preterm infants of fewer than 38 weeks gestation, even with antenatal care, ethnicity, and other factors controlled. Results of bivariate analyses suggested that women aged 20-36 years are more likely than adolescent mothers to have a cesarean section; however, multivariate analyses suggested that maternal age was not an important factor in relation to type of delivery. Thus, even with similar comprehensive care, pregnant adolescents were at an increased risk of some adverse outcomes. However, the amount of antenatal care is a more important predictor of pregnancy outcome than is maternal age. This study compares 3 birth outcomes, gestational age, birthweight, and type of delivery, among adolescent and older mothers. Data were collected from 911 women who were enrolled in a comprehensive prenatal care program at a large urban teaching hospital in New York City. For purposes of the analysis, the sample was divided into 2 groups: those aged 13-19 (N=529) and those over 20 (N=382). About 53% of the women were of Hispanic background, 2/5 were black and the remainder were white or other ethnic background. The 2 groups did not differ significantly by ethnicity. The younger and older women did differ by parity: 3/4 of the teenage patients were nulliparous, compared to 55% of the older women. Similar and relatively low proportions of both groups had 2 or fewer antenatal visits. Teenage patients were more than twice as likely to experience toxemia than were the older women. Results of bivariate analyses suggest that women aged 20-36 years are more likely than adolescent mothers to face a cesarean section; however, multivariate analyses suggest that maternal age is not an important factor in relation to type of delivery. The bivariate relationship between maternal age and both gestational age and birthweight reveal that younger mothers were more likely than older ones to have babies 38 weeks gestation and weighing 2500 g. In multivariate analyses, with control for antenatal care, ethnicity, parity, sex of baby, and presence of toxemia, maternal age remains a significant predictor of gestational age and birthweight. The number of antenatal visits, is however, an even stronger predictor of these outcomes than maternal age. In conclusion, even with similar comprehensive care, adolescent mothers in this study were at greater risk of adverse outcomes than older mothers. However, because these findings also suggest that prenatal care is even more important in relation to birth outcomes than is maternal age, the need for early and continuous prenatal care should be stressed for both adolescent and older pregnant women.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]