OBJECTIVE: To study the association between teenage pregnancy (ten to 19 years old) and low birthweight. METHODS: Cross-sectional study carried out at a tertiary center from June 2000 to June 2001. A simple random drawing selected teenagers and adult mothers who were interviewed during the first day after birth. Multivariate analysis using logistic regression of variables related to low birthweight was applied. RESULTS: 539 pairs (mothers and their newborns) were studied - 331 (61.4%) women with 20 years old or more and 208 (38.5%) <20 years old. Among the adolescents, 50 (24%) infants had gestational age <37 weeks, whereas among mothers over 20 years old, 52 (15.7%) were preterm (OR 1.58; 95%CI 1.00-2.51). Among the adolescent and adult women, there were respectively 52 (25%) and 56 (16.9%) newborns <2500g (OR 1.64; 95%CI 1.05-2.56). Among those who had adequate prenatal care, low birth weight was detected in 12.3 and 22.1% of mothers with adequate and inadequate prenatal care, respectively. The association found in the univariate analysis between low birth weight and maternal age was not sustained in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Low birth weight in teenage pregnancies can not be attributed only to maternal age.
pregnancy in adolescence; infant, low birth weight; morbidity
