Adolescent third-trimester enrollment in prenatal care.

This study reports the demographic and reproductive characteristics of 87 adolescents (11-19 years of age) who entered prenatal care during the third trimester of pregnancy at a publicly funded program during a 6-month period of 1987-1988, as well as their self-reported reasons for delayed prenatal care. The findings suggest that concealment of the pregnancy was the primary reason for younger adolescents (11-17 years), while poor motivation to attend prenatal care was often cited by the older adolescents (18-19 years). Older adolescents appeared to be particularly at risk for poor pregnancy outcome: 63% were mothers; the identified pregnancy was the third child for 20%; 42% smoked during pregnancy; and 22% entered care during the period from 36 to 41 weeks of gestation. The apparently poor motivation to attend prenatal care and the closely spaced pregnancies of this age group suggest that the second and third children of adolescent mothers may be a particularly vulnerable pediatric population.