Young Moms' Clinic: a multidisciplinary approach to pregnancy education in teens and in young single women.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To study outcome of pregnant adolescents and single young women who attended and those who chose not to attend a nonurban, developmentally appropriate, pilot antenatal clinic called the "Young Moms' Clinic." To study "perceived" outcome among the Young Moms' Clinic participants.

METHODS

A multidisciplinary clinic was established to provide education about pregnancy, childbirth, infant care, contraception, and healthy lifestyles to young mothers with similar backgrounds. Over a 2-year period, all adolescents and single young mothers aged 13-23 years were invited to attend the Young Moms' Clinic after the first trimester. The Clinic group consisted of the first 101 young women who were invited and chose to attend. The nonclinic group consisted of the first 95 young women who were invited but declined to attend. Both groups had the same obstetric care givers, had a similar number of prenatal visits (median number, 12), and delivered in the same hospital. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine whether participation in the clinic was an independent factor in outcome.

RESULTS

Maternal weight gain and infant birth weight were significantly higher in the Clinic group. Pregnancy complications (preterm labor, intrauterine growth retardation, anemia) were significantly higher in the nonclinic group. Participants in the nonclinic group were almost three times as likely to have cesarean section delivery as those in the Clinic group. Neonatal intensive care unit transfer occurred only in infants of the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Participation of pregnant adolescent and young adult women from a nonurban community in a developmentally targeted pilot, prenatal program resulted in fewer pregnancy complications and improved outcome in comparison with those who chose not to participate in the program. The results may be subject to bias because of self-selection among participants.