Teenage pregnancies in Western Australia

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Abstract
Examination of fertility rates among teenagers in Western Australia from 1968 to 1978 revealed a steady decline in 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 emphasised, as it is usually masked by presentation of data on all teenagers as a group. The authors recommend the involvement of special adolescent units in the prevention and management of teenage pregnancy.

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