Comparison of adolescent pregnancy outcomes by prenatal care source.

To determine whether a difference existed in prepregnancy characteristics, pregnancy course and immediate outcomes of pregnant adolescents based on source of prenatal care, we retrospectively reviewed the pregnancies of all adolescents aged < or = 17 years who delivered from 1985 to 1986 at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. The sample of 1,080 included 660 (61%) teenagers who participated in a teen pregnancy clinic, 277 (26%) teenagers who participated in traditional prenatal care and 143 (13%) who received no prenatal care. Teen clinic participants differed from the other two groups in that they were more likely to be unmarried (P = .02) and to be primagravidae (P = .05). Teenagers receiving care were also of higher gynecologic age than those not receiving care (P = .02). Ethnic distribution, chronologic age, education completed and smoking behavior were similar among the three groups. Although teen clinic participants began prenatal care earlier and had more visits than traditional care participants, both groups had similar pregnancy outcomes. Groups receiving prenatal care had better outcomes (Apgar scores, preterm births, low and very low birth weight) than those who received no care.