The hispanic teen mother's origin of birth, use of prenatal care, and maternal and neonatal complications

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare differences in demographics, prenatal care use, and pregnancy, labor, postpartum, and neonatal complications for 129 pregnant Mexican-American adolescents who were either born in the United States or born in Mexico. A significant finding was that 25% of the teens, regardless of origin of birth, received either inadequate or no prenatal care. The findings of this study will be useful to clinicians providing health care for Hispanic teens and for administrators and policy makers who affect the types of health care and education available to these young mothers.