Obstetric and perinatal outcomes of teenage pregnant women attending a tertiary teaching hospital in oman.

Objective: To study the obstetrical and perinatal outcomes of teenage Omani girls with singleton pregnancies at a tertiary teaching hospital.

Methods: This is a retrospective case control study. We reviewed obstetric and perinatal outcomes of teenage nulliparous pregnant Omani girls with singleton pregnancies aged 14 to 19 years, delivered at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2013. We compared their outcomes with outcomes of pregnant nulliparous Omani women with singleton pregnancies aged 20 to 25 years old delivered at the same hospital during the same period.

Results: When compared with pregnant women (n=307), teenage pregnant girls (n=307) were found to have higher proportion of preterm delivery <32 weeks (7% vs. 3%, p=0.040), preterm pre-labor rupture of membranes (PPROM) (19% vs. 11%, p=0.005) and anemia (58% vs. 44%, p=0.005). Cesarean section rate was higher in women than teenager girls (20% vs. 10%, p=0.001). Teenager girls had lighter babies (mean weight ± standard deviation 2,750±690 vs. 2,890±480, p=0.020), incidence of very low birth weight babies (<1,500g) was higher in teenagers (3.9% vs. 0.3%, p=0.003), but perinatal mortality rate was similar in the two groups.

Conclusion: Teenage pregnant Omani women are at increased risk of preterm delivery before 32 weeks gestation, PPROM, anemia, and delivering very low birth weight babies.