Obstetric complications in young teenagers.

We compared pregnancy outcome in 286 teenaged primigravidas (less than or equal to 16 years old) and 267 adult primigravidas (21 to 25 years old) who had similar prenatal care, socioeconomic status, and racial balance. The incidence of preterm labor and delivery of a low birthweight infant was significantly higher in the teenagers. The incidence of preeclampsia was significantly higher in the adults. Cesarean delivery was not done more frequently in teenagers, nor was there a higher incidence of infants small for gestational age, anemia, and abnormal presentation in labor. The birthweight of infants of black teenagers was significantly lower than the birthweight of those of white teenagers, and overall birthweight was significantly lower in infants of teenagers than those of adults. Although prenatal care, socioeconomic factors, and racial balance were comparable for young teenagers and adults, teenagers were still at a significantly greater risk for delivery of smaller infants, preterm labor, and low birthweight infants.

Serial maternal blood donations for intrauterine transfusion.

Because of concern regarding viral disease transmission, 21 pregnant women who had been alloimmunized to various red-cell antigens donated 77 units of blood (range two to six donations) for intrauterine transfusion to their anemic fetuses. Patients received supplemental iron and vitamin therapy throughout the blood donation period. Before the first donation, the mean (+/- SD) maternal hematocrit was 34.4 +/- 2.8%, whereas at delivery it was 33.4 +/- 3.5%. Maternal hematocrit was noted to decline slightly between the first and second donations but returned to pre-donation values with subsequent donations. No adverse maternal or fetal effects occurred secondary to repeated donations. Use of maternal designated-donor red cells for intrauterine transfusion offers potential advantages over the use of random allogeneic red blood cell units.