Teenage Pregnancy in South Australia, 1986–1988

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Abstract
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Readers please note that this paper on teenage pregnancy has the unique quality of coming from the only Australian State in which it is a statutory requirement to notify all cases of termination of pregnancy. The authors have therefore been able to provide important information regarding the characteristics of pregnant teenagers and the changing incidence of abortion as well as the obstetric results in continuing pregnancies. These data allow deductions concerning teenage behaviour resulting in pregnancy. The results identify subgroups of our population who require special counselling and care. Hopefully the Council members of the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists will use their influence to encourage alt State Parliaments to introduce legislation requiring notification of all cases of termination of pregnancy. We need the facts to identify the high risk groups, so that available resources can be appropriately directed. Summary: Teenage pregnancies accounted for 6.0% of confinements and 24.8% of legal abortions in South Australia in 1986–1988. The teenage pregnancy rate has declined by 28.5% since the early 1970s, associated with a 52.6% decline in the confinement rate. The abortion rate rose in the 1970s but fell slightly in the 1980s; nearly half the teenage pregnancies now end in legal abortion: abortion was a more likely pregnancy outcome for younger teenagers and for teenagers resident in metropolitan areas. Compared with women confined in their twenties, confined teenagers were more likely to be single, primigravid and Aboriginal, to have few antenatal visits and to have a medical or obstetric complication during their pregnancy. They were less likely to have an induction of labour or an elective Caesarean section. They had higher frequencies of preterm deliveries (8.9%) and low birth‐weight babies (9.3%). The youngest teenagers had the most risk factors and the worst outcomes. In the small group of Aboriginal teenagers aged 16 years and under, about a third of the babies were low birth‐weight or premature and one in 12 babies was a perinatal death. Comparison of singleton pregnancies of teenagers with women in their twenties all of whom were single, Caucasian and primigravid, with 7 or more antenatal visits, showed similarity in outcomes. This suggests that being teenage is not in itself a risk factor. Continued support and extension of teenage counselling and antenatal care services is essential.