ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate pregnancy, abortion and delivery rates among Korean teenagers. The subjects of this study were 11,433 teenagers aged 13-19 year in Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Kwangju, Insheon, Taejeon and Ansan, Korea. Data were collected from Feb. 1994 to May 1995, 16 months, by schoolnurses or the researchers. The results showed pregnancy rate was 7.2 per 1,000 teenagers, the abortion rate was 4.3 per 1,000 teenagers, and delivery rate was 1.2 per 1,000 teenagers. In the pregnancy experience, the main factors related to teenage pregnancy were love or marriage engagement. In the abortion experience, 53.9% of teenagers had more than two abortion experiences, 38.1% midtrimester abortion, 22% complications after abortion. In the delivery experience, 64.3% of teenagers delivered with no prenatal care and 42.9% had a delay in realizing they were pregnant. Fifty percent were delivered by non-professionals in non-medical institutions.