Pregnancy performance of Nigerian women aged 16 years and below, as seen in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

A review of eighty-four women aged 16 years and below who gave birth at the University College Hospital, Ibadan during the period 1978-1982 has shown the majority of the patients to be unemployed women from a low socio-economic class. There is a strong tendency to lack of antenatal car e in this group of women. Pregnancy and delivery were complicated by a higher than usual incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and foeto-pelvic disproportion. A high perinatal mortality rate is noted a n d this poor result is related to the deficit in perinatal car e the women received. Maternal mortality showed no significant difference compare d with that obtained for all other maternity patients but a high morbidity rate, related mainly to Pill and foeto-pelvic disproportion, was found. Despite the undesirable social effects of teenage pregnancies, apart from the immature pelvic size, no definite biological reason could be adduced for the noted difference s in their performance when compare d to the total hospital maternity patients. We believe that difference s in reports on teenage pregnancies may be due to differences in socio-cultural and educational standards of the various groups studied.