Teenage pregnancies in Western Australia.

Examination of fertility rates among teenagers in Western Australia from 1968 to 1978 revealed a steady decline n the birth rate among older teenagers (16-19); a similar decline did not occur among girls under 16. an increasing proportion of teenage births is occurring to these young teenagers. Information obtained from a linked file of birth and perinatal death registrations in Western Australia over the same period indicates that the infants of young teenage mothers have a substantially higher risk of low birthweight and perinatal death than infants of older mothers. The presence of this high-risk group of very young teenagers needs to be emphasized, as it is usually masked by presentation of data on all teenagers as a group. The authors recommended the involvement of special adolescent units in the prevention and management of teenage pregnancy.