Adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes in adolescent pregnancies: The Global Network's Maternal Newborn Health Registry study

• Published in: Reproductive health 2015-06, Vol.12 Suppl 2 (S2), p.S8-S8, Article S8
• Main Authors: Althabe, Fernando, Moore, Janet L, Gibbons, Luz, Berrueta, Mabel, Goudar, Shivaprasad S, Chomba, Elwyn, Derman, Richard J, Patel, Archana, Saleem, Sarah, Pasha, Omrana, Esamai, Fabian, Garces, Ana, Liechty, Edward A, Hambidge, K, Krebs, Nancy F, Hibberd, Patricia L, Goldenberg, Robert L, Koso-Thomas, Marion, Carlo, Waldemar A, Cafferata, Maria L, Buekens, Pierre, McClure, Elizabeth M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Factors; Delivery, Obstetric - methods; Developing Countries; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant Mortality; Infant, Newborn; Maternal Age; Pregnancy; Pregnancy in Adolescence; Pregnancy Outcome - epidemiology; Premature Birth - epidemiology; Prenatal Care - statistics & numerical data; Prospective Studies; Puerperal Disorders - epidemiology; Registries; Stillbirth - epidemiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1742-4755; 1742-4755
• DOI: 10.1186/1742-4755-12-S2-S8

Adolescent girls between 15 and 19 years give birth to around 16 million babies each year, around 11% of births worldwide. We sought to determine whether adolescent mothers are at higher risk of maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes compared with mothers aged 20-24 years in a prospective, population-based observational study of newborn outcomes in low resource settings. We undertook a prospective, population-based multi-country research study of all pregnant women in defined geographic areas across 7 sites in six low-middle income countries (Kenya, Zambia, India, Pakistan, Guatemala and Argentina). The study population for this analysis was restricted to women aged 24 years or less, who gave birth to infants of at least 20 weeks' gestation and 500g or more. We compared adverse pregnancy maternal and perinatal outcomes among pregnant adolescents 15-19 years,