Pregnancy outcomes of mothers aged 17 years or less

OBJECTIVE: To study the obstetric complications of women who become pregnant at aged 17 years old or less.

METHODS: A retrospective study was performed from January to December 2009 at Al-Thawra General Hospital, Sana'a, Yemen. We included all women aged 17 years or less who delivered in the hospital with singleton births after 24 weeks gestational age. The study group comprised 239 patients, and a control group (n=240) was chosen from women aged between 20-24 years. Data were retrieved from the hospital records.

RESULTS: Pregnancy in women 17 years old or less was associated with higher frequency of low birth weight than the control group (21.3% versus 12%, p=0.0091). Anemia was higher in the study group (17.5% versus 7%, p=0.0008). Preterm labor was 11.6% in the study group, and 5.4% in the control group. In the study group, 7.9% had preeclampsia compared to 5% in the control group. The cesarean section rate in the study group was higher than the control group (6.3% versus 2%, p=0.0331).

CONCLUSION: Pregnant women 17 years old or less were more likely to have maternal and neonatal morbidity, and were more likely to have abdominal deliveries.