Apart from the medical perspective, pregnant adolescent girls also suffer from guilt, financial constraints, inability to continue education, and disgrace from society. Girls with teen pregnancy are at increased risk of preeclampsia, preterm premature rupture of the membrane (PPROM), increased incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension, anemia, sexually transmitted diseases, operative vaginal deliveries (forceps/vacuum), postpartum depression, and maternal deaths (Figure 1). Early marriage, substance abuse, sexual violence, lack of availability of contraceptives, relatives with a history of adolescent birth, early sexual activity, lack of health services, limited maternal education, poverty, lack of parental support, child of a broken family, religious beliefs, lack of financial autonomy, social media, and pornography are among few of the risk factors for adolescent pregnancy. Sub-Saharan Africa leads the charts of adolescent pregnancies compared to European and North American nations. About 5.6 million ended up with abortion, of which 3.9 million are reported as unsafe in the developing regions of the world, hence inclining the global burden more toward developing countries of the world. Although adolescent pregnancies are a global concern, for both developed and developing countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 21 million girls of age 15-19 get pregnant annually. One in every five adolescent girls has given birth globally, and the risk rises to about one in every three adolescent girls in developing nations. Approximately 15% of women below 18 years gave birth globally in 2015- 2020, and 90% or more of such deliveries occur in countries with low and middle income. This article has also emphasized the need to implement various modalities such as sex education, availability of contraceptives, and bringing community-level awareness to lower the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy.Īdolescent pregnancy, by definition, is pregnancy in girls between the ages of 10 and 19, where the majority are unintended pregnancies. Various pathophysiologic events that lead to such adverse consequences have been briefly discussed in the article and how such occurrences can be overcome.
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This article has reviewed the significant determinants of adolescent pregnancy and various maternal adverse effects, including preeclampsia, preterm premature rupture of the membrane (PPROM), maternal anemia, sexually transmitted diseases, postpartum depression, and maternal deaths, and adverse neonatal outcomes, including low birth weight (LBW), prematurity, stillbirths, early neonatal demise, and low Apgar score. These pregnancies have been a global concern for many decades and yet are still prevailing. Adolescent pregnancy is the pregnancy of girls aged 10-19 years, leading to many maternal and neonatal adverse effects.