Evolution of pregnancy in adolescent mothers at the pre-natal clinic of the Health Centre Geraldo de Paula Souza, S. Paulo (Brazil)

Abstract

A hundred and thirty six cases of pregnancy in women below the age of twenty, patients of a pre-natal clinic, were studied. There was found to be a significantly higher rate of premature births and of low-birth-weight, in comparison with a group of normal pregnant women, treated at the same clinic. It was also found that the socio-economic status of the pregnant teen-agers was considerably lower. The rate of cesarian sections was also considerably lower, but the rate of forceps was higher. The average weight of the newborn children was considerably lower in the population sample studied and despite there being a great majority of primipara among the adolescents, the factor parity had no influence on the weight of the newborn.