Adolescent Pregnancies: Maternal and Fetal Complications In Yaounde University Hospitals

Abstract

Introduction: Childhood pregnancies pose problems in their follow-up and care. We described complications observed in adolescent pregnancies in four reference hospitals in Yaoundé. Methodology: This cross-sectional descriptive study took place from January 1 to December 31 2011 at the Yaoundé Central Hospital, the Yaoundé General Hospital, the Yaoundé Gynae-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital and the Yaounde University Hospital Centre. We studied the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics as well as the prognosis of 340 adolescent pregnancies. The data were collected from their medical records and analyzed using the SPSS 18.0 software. Results: We registered 9287 deliveries of which 1247 were by teenagers, giving a proportion of 13.42% (1247/9287). Among them, 27.2% (340/1247) had complications and 26.2% (89/340) of the latter were seropositive for HIV. Adolescents aged 15 to 17 outnumbered the rest (47%, 160/340). The educational level was often primary (39.7%, 135/340) and secondary (38.2%, 130/340). More than half of teenage girls were dropping out of school (56.8%, 183/340). The pregnancy-related complications encountered in our patients included: anaemia (77.6%, 264/340), threatened abortion (24.4%, 83/340), preterm labour (20.6%, 70 / 340) and hypertensive diseases (19.4%, 66/340). As regards postpartum complications, 87.4% (297/340) of our patients developed postpartum haemorrhage, 22.6% (77/340) presented with endometritis and 11.2% (38/340) developed eclampsia. Neonatal asphyxia accounted for 18.2% (62/340) of the complications. The maternal mortality rate was 240 / 100.000 live births and the peri natal mortality rate was 91/1000 births. Conclusion: Early pregnancies are associated with high morbidity and high maternal and neonatal mortality. There is a real need for family life education in schools and sexuality education at home.