BACKGROUND: Teenage pregnancies are regarded as high
risk, because they often occur outside marriage. There is the
need to evaluate the outcome of teenage pregnancies in a
predominantly Islamic society like Kano where most occur
within marriage, and timely prenatal care is usually available
to most of them.
OBJECTIVE: To review the obstetric outcome of teenage
primigravida in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria.
METHODS: A retrospective case-control study of 500 booked
teenage primigravidae, who delivered in our labour ward from
January 2002 to December 2005 (study group) was performed.
Their obstetric outcome was compared with that of an equal
number of booked primigravidae aged 20–34 years, who met
the recruitment criteria and delivered immediately after a
selected teenage mother (control group). The study variables of
interest were the demographic characteristics of the women in
the two groups, antenatal/intrapartum complications and
neonatal outcome.
RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the mean
birth weight, mean gestational age at delivery, mean height and
perinatal mortality between the two groups, but mean maternal
weight and body mass index (BMI) were higher among the older
women. The teenage mothers had increased incidence of preterm
labour and low birth weight infants (P < 0.05). The incidence of
caesarean section and instrumental deliveries were lower
among the teenage mothers.
CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that teenage
mothers who receive good family and community support, timely
quality antenatal care and deliver in the hospital, should expect
similar obstetric outcome to that of their older peers. WAJM
2010; 29(5): 318–322