Adolescent pregnancy prevalence, maternal characteristics, and perinatal outcomes

Introduction Adolescent pregnancy is a global public health issue with significant implications for maternal and neonatal health, particularly in regions with limited access to healthcare services.

To investigate the prevalence of adolescent pregnancies and perinatal outcomes at the Isidro Ayora Gyneco-Obstetric Hospital during the period 2009-2022.

A cross-sectional study was conducted based on records from the Perinatal Information System. Adolescent women and their newborns were included. Multiple pregnancies and cases with incomplete data were excluded. The Chi-square test was applied, and multinomial logistic regression models were used. Ethical Approval 009-DOC-FCM-2023

Out of a total of 26,236 live births, 6,700 (25.53%) were born to adolescent mothers. Many of these mothers were of mestizo ethnicity (94.91%) and had secondary education (80.28%). Multivariate analyses indicated that younger adolescents (<14 years) belonged to minority ethnic groups, substance abuse during pregnancy, underwent episiotomy, and their neonates had a low Apgar score in the first minute of life.

Adolescent pregnancy remains a public health issue in Ecuador, associated with adverse neonatal outcomes. It is crucial to implement health policies that address the socioeconomic and cultural determinants of adolescent pregnancy and to conduct prospective studies to better understand the factors involved in these perinatal outcomes. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Universidad Central del Ecuador (CEISH-UCE) code: 009-DOC-FCM-2023 I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Footnotes Email: ptoapanta{at}uce.edu.ec; Email: mdrosero{at}uce.edu.ec; mschaveze{at}uce.edu.ec; Email: csvasco{at}estud.usfq.edu.ec; Email: snvasco{at}alumni.usp.br; Email: snvasco{at}uce.edu.ec Data Availability All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript