[Pregnancy in adolescence].

The retrospective study compares the pregnancy, labour, lying-in period and the newborn of adolescents with corresponding data for a group of mothers aged 21 to 30. Both groups were the same size. Menarche had been 6-7 months earlier on average for the pregnant adolescents. Pregnancy was complicated in the teenage group by a markedly higher incidence of gestosis, greater frequency of pregnancy anaemia, and a tendency to deliver prematurely. Medical care during pregnancy was found to have been much more inadequate for this group. With onset of labour more often spontaneous, shorter labour, and the rate of spontaneous delivery increased, labour and delivery could be rated as free from complications and low-risk. There was no evidence that morbidity during the lying-in period was greater for the juveniles. The newborn was found to be at greater risk in the adolescent group, with perinatal mortality predominantly linked to the incidence of premature births.