The adolescent's first pregnancy: a controlled study.

The records of 1,021 primigravida women who delivered single infants from 1973 to 1976 and who were in the adolescent (ages 10-15) and mature (ages 20-24) age groups were reviewed. It was found that the adolescent patient is more often black and unmarried, and has less prenatal care than the mature woman. There was a higher frequency of hypertensive disorders in the adolescents but this was related to race. The adolescent had fewer breech deliveries and more postpartum endometritis and premature deliveries. There was no significant difference in the fetal, neonatal, and perinatal mortality in the adolescent pregnancies.