Can adolescence affect maternal and neonatal pregnancy outcomes?

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy becomes a raising challenge for health care professionals of developing and developed countries.1 Adolescent, also known as teenage pregnancy is affected by different variables. Its rate often attributed to the sexual activity levels, the provided sex education and ease access to multiple contraceptives between countries.2 the literature, in general, published all over the world suggested the raise of teenage pregnancies.3,4 The double burden of reproduction as well as the progressive developmental growth among teenage pregnancies mark them as a high-risk group in reproductive terms.5 Moreover, almost 95% of teen’s births are conducted in developing countries for example, Saudi Arabia’s teen pregnancies ranged between 4.1% to 11.3% in urban and rural areas respectively.6,7 Factors contributing to the high teen pregnancy rate in those countries are overlapping such as; traditional, behavioral, socio-economical, educational and religious ones. Also, it seems that poverty and low socio economic status are the most prevalent factors.8