Perinatal Outcomes and Long-term Health in Offspring of Teenage Mothers

Study Objective: To evaluate whether extremely young maternal age (≤17 years) is associated with an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcome and an increased risk for long-term pediatric morbidity in offspring. Design, Setting, Participants, Interventions, and Main Outcome Measures: A retrospective population-based cohort study, in which all singleton deliveries of women, between the years 1991 and 2014 were compared. Parturients were classified into 3 groups according to age at delivery: 17 years or younger, 18-20 years, and 21-35 years (the comparison group). The incidence of long-term hospitalizations of offspring because of cardiovascular, endocrine, hematological, and respiratory morbidity were evaluated in the 3 maternal age groups. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were used to compare the cumulative morbidity incidence. Multiple regression models were used to estimate the association between young maternal age and adverse pregnancy outcomes, and long-term offspring morbidities (using survival analysis) while controlling for multiple potential confounders. Results: Of 213,177 deliveries that met the inclusion criteria, 90.1% (n = 192,185) occurred in mothers aged 21-35 years, 8.7% (n = 18,645) in mothers 18-20 years old, and 2347 were in mothers aged 17 years or younger (1.1%). Using multivariable logistic regression models, low birth weight and preterm delivery were significantly associated with young maternal age. The incidence of long-term morbidities of the offspring did not differ between the groups, in either the Kaplan–Meier analysis or the multivariable survival analysis.