Effects of teenage pregnancies on the health, nutrition, and development of first-born children: A community-based comparative study in a rural district at Bhopal.

ABSTRACT

Background: The global problem of teenage pregnancy affects health of the young mother as well as health of the baby to be born. Being both a medical and public health problem, teenage mothers as well as their children are considered as high-risk groups. Current research work is a community-based comparative study to understand the consequences of teenage pregnancy on the health, nutrition, and developmental milestones of the first-born children. Methods: Three parameters, namely, fetal outcome, birth weight of the baby, and child's milestones of development, were chosen to analyze the effects of teenage pregnancy on the first-born child. Mothers in a rural district at Bhopal were interviewed and then classified into two groups based on their age - teenage and non-teenage mothers. Results: The child of teenage mothers had 16% less chances of having birth weight >2.5 kg in comparison to the child of non-teenage mothers. A significant statistical difference in the fetal outcome (teenage mothers vs non-teenage mothers) was observed with a P value of 0.0008. Live births were 80.77% (63) in teenage mothers against 97.44% (76) in non-teenage mothers, whereas a low birth weight (LBW) of <1.5 kg was 5.35 times more in the teenage group. Conclusion: First-born children of non-teenage mothers were found to be healthier compared to those of the teenage mothers; teenage pregnancy has adverse effects on the health, nutrition, and development of the first-born children and may lead to problems such as still births, LBW, and pre-mature child birth.