OBJECTIVES: to describe mothers' and newborns' profiles and to indicate risk factors associated to patterns during adolescence. METHODS: cross sectional study analyzing adolescents giving birth in Campinas, SP, Brazil in 2001. The profiles were described according to mothers' social-demographic characteristics and those related to their pregnancies and newborns. The association between variables was tested through the chi-square test and crude odds-ratio (OR). To obtain adjusted OR, a model of logistical regression was used. RESULTS: in 2001, 17.8% of the mothers were adolescents. Out of these, 48.4% hadn't finished elementary school, 59.9% had no partners, 87.6% no job, 46.0% had low conditions of life. Most of them were primiparas, 21.6% had had one child or more, 35.2% had had six doctor's visits at most, 36.2% had C-sections, 7.5% of the newborns were premature, 9.7% weighed 2.499 grams at most and 30.3% weighed between 2.500 and 2.999 grams. Teenage pregnancies were associated to unmarried (formal or commom-law) women from poor regions (Northwest [ORaj=1.30; 95%CI=1.07-1.59] and Southwest [ORaj=1.22; 95%CI=1.01-1.47]), (ORaj=2.63; 95%CI=2.35-2.94), without incomes (ORaj=3.29; 95%CI=2.85-3.79) and adequate prenatal care (ORaj=1.22;95%CI=1.09-1.38). CONCLUSIONS: adolescent mothers' profiles and characteristics of their pregnancies were mainly determined by unfavourable life conditions. Different sectors of society should work together to support adolescents in their choices.
Adolescence; Pregnancy; Risk Factors
