Teenagers' risk of adverse events is not increased for first birth

Non-smoking teenagers giving birth for the first time are not at higher risk of adverse outcomes, but those having second births are at increased risk of premature delivery and stillbirth. Using Scottish morbidity data for over 110 000 women, Smith and Pell (p 476) looked at the risk of low birth weight, extreme and moderate prematurity, stillbirth, emergency caesarean section, and neonatal death, and adjusted for maternal height, social deprivation, previous abortions, and year of birth. The study also found that teenagers were less likely to have emergency caesarean sections than women aged 20-29. The authors suggest that previous findings of increased risk from first teenage pregnancies may be the result of inadequate adjustment for confounding factors.

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Relevant Article

Teenage pregnancy and risk of adverse perinatal outcomes associated with first and second births: population based retrospective cohort study

Gordon C S Smith and Jill P Pell
BMJ 2001 323: 476. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]