Abstract

FERNANDEZ, Liliam Susana; CARRO PUIG, Eugenio; OSES FERRERA, Dalia  and  PEREZ PINERO, Julia. Characterization of the newborn infant in a sample of pregnant adolescents. Rev Cubana Obstet Ginecol [online]. 2004, vol.30, n.2. ISSN 0138-600X.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at "Julio Trigo López" Maternal Children Hospital, from June to December, 2001, aimed at characterizing the newborn infant of adolescent mothers. The live birth of pregnant adolescents under 20, independently of the weight of the newborn infant or of the gestational age at the time of delivery, were included in the study. In the studied period, 206 live births of adolescent mothers were reported , accounting for 12.3 % of a total of 1 675 deliveries. Average age was 17.5. The youngest adolescent was 13 and the oldest was 19. 83 % of the newborn infants had a time of gestation from 37 to 41 weeks. In 88 %, the weight of the newborn infant was over 2 550 grams. In the group of the youngest, the nutritional status of "the infant with an adequate weight according to the gestational age" was remarkably higher. 95 % had a good vitality at one minute and 98 % at 5 minutes of birth. In 37.3 %, the hospital stay was 3 days or less, but in 15 % it was more than 7 days. The most common affections causing morbidity were the metabolic affections, icterus, the respiratory affections and sepsis. There was an early neonatal death. Infant mortality rate was 9.6 x 1000, a figure that was above the same rate for the the total population of deliveries in the studied period. These results allow to confirm that the younger the adolescent mother is, the higher the morbidity and/or mortality risk of the newborn infant is, which shows that pregnancy in adolescence is an important health problem.

Keywords : Pregnancy; adolescence; newborn infant.