Teenage pregnancies and risk of late fetal death and infant mortality

This paper presents findings of a study of 2228 teenage pregnancies delivered in 1992-96 at the Rotunda hospital. About 17.2% of the total teenage population was delivered in the Republic of Ireland. The teenagers were divided into two groups those under 17 years of age and those aged 17 years or older. The authors findings were similar to those of Otterblad Olausson et al. in that prematurity increased when all teenagers were compared with a group of mothers aged 20-25 years. However unlike the Swedish study when mothers younger than age 17 were compared with those aged 17 or older there was no significant difference in the rate of premature deliveries. The authors investigated admission rates to the neonatal intensive care unit as a measure of early neonatal well-being because their figures were too small to interpret infant mortality. They found that only 2.7% of babies born to teenage mothers were admitted. The main reason for admission was low birth weight (72% of all cases) a possible reflection of prematurity. Another factor may be a tendency identified over the study period of an increasing number of low-birth-weight babies born to teenage mothers independent of gestation. The authors study therefore disagrees with that of Otterblad Olausson et al. Indeed the incidence of cesarean section in the authors 14-15 year olds was 5.5% compared with 13.5% in the 19-year olds. (full text modified)