Teenage Pregnancy: A Product of Various Social and Health Factors.

ABSTRACT

A Context The practice of child marriage in rural India is deeply rooted in cultural values. Despite laws that prohibit child marriage, the practice is still extremely prevalent in many regions. Most of adolescent fertility occurs within marriage. High adolescent fertility contributes to an elevated risk of maternal death and disability especially in adolescent girls Objectives: To find out prevalence of teenage pregnancy, its socio-demographic relationship and some health problems associated with teenage pregnancy in rural area. Settings and Design: A cross sectional study was carried out in three primary health centres of Pune District in Maharashtra state. Methods and Material: Total number of 547 who consented to participate were included in the study. Questions on demographic profile, obstetric history were asked. The antenatal mothers were clinically examined and investigated for any health problems. Statistical analysis used Chi square test for linear trend. Results: There were 218(39.9%) teenagers. Most of the teenagers were less educated, housewives. Majority of the teenagers were pregnant for the first time but repeated pregnancies and abortions were also observed. The health problems like anemia, hypertension and edema feet were significantly high in adolescent pregnant girls in our study. Conclusions: Teenage pregnancies put mothers at high-risks to many health-related complications thereby affecting the maternal mortality.