Number Of Adolescent Pregnancies Research Articles

Childbirth in adolescents - features and outcomes

Introduction. Adolescent pregnancies significantly impact the welfare of young mothers, their infants, and the general population. These pregnancies represent a public healthcare concern associated with numerous consequences. Aim: To investigate the prevalence of adolescent pregnancies and their outcomes. Material and Methods. This retrospective descriptive study included adolescents who gave birth at the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Data on anthropometric measurements, number and mode of deliveries, newborn birth weights, and complications were collected from medical records and statistically analyzed. Results. A total of 174 adolescents (aged 13-19) were included in the study. Most were first-time mothers living in common-law unions. Four spontaneous twin pregnancies were documented. No significant differences were found in the anthropometric measures between younger (<15 years old) and older (16-19 years old) adolescents. Pelvic measurements did not affect the mode of delivery. Younger adolescents and those with smaller pelvic measurements experienced longer hospitalizations. Vaginal delivery was the prominent mode of birth. Newborns delivered by caesarian section had significantly lower birth weights and lengths. While no significant complications during labor and delivery were observed, there was notable postpartum blood loss and higher rates of anemia in the puerperium. Conclusion. Although the number of adolescent pregnancies and births is declining, it still remains a significant concern. Welldeveloped perinatal care and the promotion of reproductive health within educational and health systems could not only further reduce pregnancy rates but also ensure optimal conditions for normal pregnancies and deliveries in adolescents.

Adolescent Pregnancy the Case of Wa West District in Upper West Region of Ghana

Adolescence is the phase of life between childhood and adulthood from ages 10 – 19 years. This age category is further divided into sub categories as Early (10 – 14years) adolescent and late (15 – 19years) adolescent. It is a very unique stage of human development and an important time for laying the foundation for good health. All the vices emanates from this stage of life if not managed well. This is the stage where there is rapid physical, cognitive and psychosocial development. Adolescents constitute a significant proportion of our population (about 21.9%) [AHSPS 2016-2020]. A cross sectional descriptive design was used in this study where data was collected at a point in time across the health facilities with Reproductive and Maternal Health Services. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used to have a fair assessment of the issues. This study design was adopted as most appropriate because it offered the researchers the opportunity to delve deeply into the issues and appropriately respond to the objectives. 
 The principal respondents were the pregnant Adolescent girls and adolescent girls that delivered in 2021 who had contact with health service providers within the year. Health facilities that provide Reproductive Health Services were purposively sampled from 9 Health Centres and 13 CHPS compounds. In total 390 pregnant adolescent girls who were either pregnant or lactating were studied. The secondary respondents were parents of the pregnant adolescents and lactating girls, staff of Ghana Education Service as well as department of social welfare who were purposefully selected because of the critical role they play in adolescent health related issues. The number of adolescent pregnancies by age category, early adolescence (10 – 14years) and late adolescence (15 – 19years). The late adolescent recorded the highest number of pregnancies (N=383, 98.2%) and seven (7) pregnancies occurred within the early adolescent category with the youngest adolescent being 13years.

Comparison of the Pregnancy Characteristics and Outcomes Between Syrian Immigrants and Local Turkish Women: Large Cohort Multicenter Study

Objective: The aim of the present study is to compare Syrian immigrants and local Turkish women in terms of pregnancy characteristics and its outcomes. Methods: In a large cohort, multicenter, retrospective study, we obtained data from births that occurred in three hospitals in the Metropolitan Municipality of Izmir and Aydin Province between October 1, 2009 and June 1, 2019. We compared 11036 Syrian immigrants and local Turkish women in terms of their demographic features, perinatal, and neonatal outcomes. Results: Pregnant women were significantly younger, and the number of adolescent pregnancies (maternal age<19) was significantly higher in the Syrian immigrant group (p<0.01, and p<0.01, respectively). The number of previous pregnancies was higher among Syrian immigrant pregnant women (p<0.01). Cesarean Section (C/S) and interventional delivery rates were higher in Turkish pregnant women, and C/S delivery indications were significantly different between the groups (p<0.05, and p<0.01, respectively). Preterm birth rates (<37 gestational weeks) were higher in the Syrian immigrants, whereas the rates of low birth weight (LBW) (<2500 gr) were higher in the Turkish women (p<0.05, and p<0.05, respectively). Also, the mean newborn birth weight and head circumference of the newborns were higher in the Turkish women, whereas the birth length of newborns was higher in the Syrian immigrants (p<0.01, p<0.01, and p<0.01, respectively). Conclusion: In the present study, compared to local Turkish pregnant women, pregnancy characteristics and the perinatal outcomes of the Syrian immigrant women and their neonates had different characteristics. Moreover, the types and indications of delivery of Syrian immigrants differed from those of Turkish pregnant women. The findings of our large cohort study can contribute to the improvement of health policies in Turkey and other countries hosting Syrian immigrants.

Breaking barriers in the prevention of adolescent pregnancies for in-school children in Kirehe district (Rwanda): a mixed-method study for the development of a peer education program on sexual and reproductive health

BackgroundDespite a variety of mainly school-driven prevention strategies, the number of adolescent pregnancies in Rwanda is worryingly high and is even expected to increase. The aim of this study is to empower Kirehe secondary school students aged 15–19 years old in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) by developing a peer education program.MethodsA combination of quantitative and qualitative research will be used. A pre- and post-survey will examine adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes regarding SRH. In addition, six focus group interviews will explore these knowledge, attitudes but also SRH needs more in depth. Based on the obtained information, and after retrieving experts’ input, a peer education program is being developed in which Midwifery students obtain training in SRH and educational skills (= first train-the-trainer module). In turn, these students will educate and train a selected group of secondary school students (= second train the trainer module). Finally, these trained in-school students can act as reliable peers for other in-school students in the context of SRH.DiscussionThe project will contribute to 1) more independent and thoughtful decisions in contraception and sexual behavior, and consequently less adolescent pregnancies, and 2) the reinforcement of the Rwandan Midwifery education.Trial registrationUniversity of Rwanda, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institutional Review Board, Approval No 158/CMHS IRB/2019.

Does women\u2019s caste make a significant contribution to adolescent pregnancy in Nepal? A\xa0study of Dalit and non-Dalit adolescents and young adults in Rupandehi district

BackgroundAdolescent pregnancy is a public health concern worldwide. There are disparities in the occurrence of adolescence pregnancy in different social groups and settings; however, few studies have focused on the contribution of a woman’s caste in early pregnancy in Nepal. This study aimed to examine the association between caste and adolescent pregnancy; and investigate factors that influence this among women of Dalit and non-Dalit caste groups.MethodsA cross sectional survey among 457 women, age between 14 and 24 years was carried out in Rupandehi district of Nepal. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis using a stepwise entry method was performed to assess the association of women’s caste, ethnicity and other socio-demographic and individual factors with early pregnancy.ResultsOver two thirds of the participants (69%) were pregnant during adolescence. The highest percentage of adolescent pregnancies were reported among women from Janajati groups (77%) and the lowest in Brahmin/Chhetri caste groups (45%); while 72.5% of women from Dalit caste groups reported adolescent pregnancy. When adjusted for demographic and individual variables, early pregnancy was less likely among women who were from Brahman/Chhetri (OR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.30, 1.22) and Madhesi/Muslim (OR 0.56; 95% CI: 0.23, 1.36) compared to women from the Dalit caste, but multivariate regression analysis found none of these were statistically significant. Women who had secondary level education (OR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.65), had married after 17 years of age (OR: 0.02; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.14) and had attended fairs/clubs (OR: 0.40; CI: 0.21, 0.79) were significantly less likely to experience early age pregnancy. Women who drank alcohol (OR: 5.18; 95% CI: 1.02, 26.32) were significantly more likely to become pregnant during adolescence compared to women who did not drink alcohol.ConclusionsWomen’s caste had no direct contributory role in the early pregnancy of the sample. Education, age at marriage and individual behaviours were the key contributing factors. Reducing the number of adolescent pregnancies requires addressing the factors that lead to and perpetuate child marriage; keeping girls within education systems for longer; increase the knowledge and control of girls over their own reproductive health and planning; and actions that promote gender respect within relationships, decision-making and negotiation among both girls and boys.

Analysis of teenage pregnancy data, Sunyani West District, 2011 - 2015

Introduction : in 2015, statistics from Ghana Health Service indicated that Brong Ahafo Region recorded 12,492 adolescent pregnancies (14.2% of pregnancies), while Sunyani West District (SWD) recorded of 431 (14.8%). This study analyzed adolescent pregnancy data in Sunyani West District from 2011 to 2015 to determine the proportion and trend of teenage pregnancy by age and sub district. Methods : descriptive data analysis was conducted on adolescent pregnancy data in the SWD from 2011 to 2015. Data were obtained from the District Health Information Management System Two (DHIMS 2) of Sunyani West District. Study population was pregnant adolescents attending ante-natal clinics and delivery service. Variables used were age, year, pregnancy, delivery and Sub-district. The data were compiled manually by tally technique and transformed into tables and charts according to the frequencies and percentages by a means of computer. Results : a total of 2,189 pregnant adolescents were recorded in Sunyani west from January 2011 to December 2015. Of these, 1013 adolescents delivered. The median age was 17 years. The 15-19 year olds were the most affected, recording 2,140 (97.36%) of 2,189. The study indicated a decrease of 19.61% (431) in ANC attendants and an increase of 22.41% (227) in deliveries for the year 2015. Chiraa sub-district recorded the highest cases; 710 (32.30%) followed by Nsoatre with 649 (29.53%), Odumasae-Kwatire with 626 (28.48%), Fiapre with 123 (6.03%) and Bofourkrom with 90 (1.16%). Conclusion : the study found a high rate of teenage pregnancy in the District among the age groups. Majority, 97.36% (2,140) of adolescent pregnancies were within the 15-19 years age cohort. Chiraa sub-district saw the most cases 32.30% (710). Sex education incorporated into school curriculum by the GES in collaboration with the GHS would help reduce the number of adolescent pregnancies in the district.

Adolescent pregnancy and loneliness.

The number of adolescent pregnancies in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. Loneliness and adolescent sexuality, however, have not been previously studied. This descriptive study investigated the relationships of characterological and situational loneliness in childbearing adolescents. Related variables of shyness, self-esteem, perceived maternal and paternal expressiveness, and social support also were studied. The data were collected at multiple sites in Northern California using a convenience sample of adolescents ranging in age from 12 to 21 years: early (n = 11), middle (n = 22), and late (n = 24). Results of the analysis of variance and the Tukey-HSD indicated situational variables were more significant than characterological variables in understanding loneliness in early and middle adolescence. The characterological variables were not statistically significant. Using Pearson's correlation coefficient, significant relationships were found among and between variables. The findings suggest parental relationships were powerful in influencing the existence of loneliness as well as self-esteem, shyness, and social support.

The International Collaborative Study on maternal phenylketonuria: organization, study design and description of the sample.

The International Maternal Phenylketonuria (PKU) Collaborative Study commenced in 1984 to evaluate the efficacy of the low-phenylalanine diet in reducing the morbidity associated with maternal PKU syndrome. Four hundred and sixty eight (468) pregnancies resulted in 331 live births, 3 stillbirths, 61 spontaneous abortions, 2 ectopic pregnancies and 71 elective terminations. Since its inception, the study has steadily progressed toward its goal of diet initiation preconception or early in pregnancy. By 1994, 51% of the sample began the diet preconceptionally, with an additional 41% doing so by 8 weeks gestation. The number of adolescent pregnancies has decreased from 31% to 9%, college attendance has increased from 5% to 16%, number of women in the lowest socioeconomic classes has decreased from 95% to 59% and average IQ has increased from 78 to 88. The organization of the network of 130 referral centers and clinics within the U.S.A., Canada and Germany and the objectives of the scientific research investigation have served to provide a derived benefit of outreach, education, reproductive counseling and early diet intervention in a large cohort of PKU women.

Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

The birth rate among unmarried United States teens has been sufficiently high over the last several decades that large numbers of public and private agencies have implemented a range of primary prevention strategies in hopes of reducing the number of adolescent pregnancies. Prevention strategies reported in the literature have varied in philosophy, purpose, structure, and content (Orbuch, 1989). Some interventions have focused solely on education and some on getting adolescents to abstain from coital activity, whereas others have concentrated on teaching adolescents cognitive and interpersonal skills thought to decrease the chance of youthful pregnancy. This article reviews published evaluations of these primary prevention strategies with a two-fold purpose. First, it will identify prevention efforts that have been adequately evaluated and whose results have been published in peer reviewed journals, with a primary focus on those programs that have demonstrated some level of behavioral success with sexual activity and birth control use. Behavioral outcomes are focused on here because the relationship between these variables and pregnancy is clearer than the relationship of other variables, such as attitudes or behavioral intentions. Second, the applied implications of these findings will be explored. The Need for Primary Prevention The need for pregnancy prevention efforts among U.S. youth has been consistently documented since the early 1970s. Although the age of first coitus and the frequency of coitus for adolescents in our society is comparable to other Western developed countries, the pregnancy, abortion, and birth rates among our youth far outstrip these other nations (Jones et al., 1985). The most recent figures can be extrapolated to suggest that over one million teens in the U.S. will become pregnant annually in coming years (Henshaw & Van Vort, 1989). Moreover, the most recent trend has been for single mothers to keep their children rather than relinquish them through adoption (Miller & Moore, 1990). This movement significantly contributes to increases in the number of children in poverty conditions. Many of these mothers are at serious risk for giving birth to additional children while single, thereby compounding their families' life challenges. The differences in adolescent pregnancy rates between the United States and other Western countries have often been pointed out (cf. Hayes, 1987). Such disparate figures raise serious questions about why differences exist. Jones et al. (1985) compared the U.S. to six other Western nations and concluded that differences in how the problem was defined contributed to the discrepant rates in teen pregnancies. They found that teen sexual activity, although not always seen as appropriate, is accepted as inevitable in most other countries. Although the value of abstinence and postponing coitus is often stressed, policy makers in these nations believe that programmatic emphasis needs to be centered on preventing pregnancies among adolescents because of potential costs to youth, their offspring, their families, and society. The U.S., however, has yet to clearly define the focus of the problem and attempts to do so are highly politicized. Whereas there are some who take a stance similar to that found in other Western countries, others feel that the problem rests in preventing sexual intercourse from occurring among youth. Unfortunately, the discourse surrounding problem definition is rarely dispassionate. Quite the opposite, the announcement of any intended adolescent pregnancy prevention effort within a community is likely to be met with impassioned rhetoric from concerned groups of citizens who strongly believe their approach is the correct one (cf. Kenney, 1986; Kirby, Barth, Leland, & Fetro, 1991). The ramifications of this social and cultural environment on practice will be explored later in this article. BASIC RESEARCH EVIDENCE ON THE EVIDENCE OF SEX EDUCATION One source of evidence about the relationship between sex education and pregnancy prevention comes from several national probability surveys that have been intermittently conducted since the mid-1970s. …

Adolescent fathers in urban communities: exploring their needs and role in preventing pregnancy.

Reductions in the number of adolescent pregnancies in the US demand greater recognition of the role of adolescent males, especially in urban environments, and their developmental needs. With its person-in- environment orientation, the social work profession is in a strong position to ameliorate this gap in services. Key developmental issues for teenage males include "hanging out" with peers in networks that communicate information about social behaviors such as premarital sex, separation from one's parents, securing employment so that there can be financial independence, courtship and the consolidation of a male (e.g., macho) image, and identity formation. Since the resources necessary for positive identity formation are frequently unavailable in poor urban centers, impregnating an adolescent female may become an alternative source of self-esteem. Social workers should, with the assistance of the target population, carry out an assessment of all resources available in a given community to meet the developmental needs of adolescent males, identify significant gaps, determine the extent to which available resources are being used appropriately and develop strategies--in collaboration with young males--to provide access to existing resources or create new ones. A community forum framework has been most effective as a launching vehicle for pregnancy prevention programs.