Obstetrics characteristics and adverse outcomes of teenage pregnancy cases presented to Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) in Suva, Fiji: A retrospective study

Abstract
Introduction: Teenage pregnancy has been a subject of public concern for many years. Approximately, 14 million
children worldwide are born every year to young unmarried women aged 15–19. Reports show 2% increase in the incidence of
teenage pregnancy in Fiji from 5.5% in the year 2000 to 7.5% in 2004. Aims: This study aimed to describe the obstetrics
characteristics and adverse outcomes of the teenage mothers presented to Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) in Suva,
Fiji and their adverse outcomes within 2008 to 2012. Methodology: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted among
teenage mothers aged 13 to 19 years who were delivered at CWMH in Suva within 2008 to 2012 were included in this study.
The demographic and obstetric characteristics of participants who met the study inclusion criteria were collected from the Birth
Registries and patient information system (PatisPlus) and were analyzed using SPSS. Ethical approve was obtained from the
relevant ethical parties before collecting the data. Results: Majority of teenage mothers aged more than 15 years (98.03%) and
more than two thirds of teenage mothers (69.7%) were indigenous Fijian. The majority were pregnant for the first time with a
total of 2379 (87.2%) and 88.4% had one live born baby each by the time of this study. More than 3/4 (79.4%) were at term
when presented for delivery and 88.6% had had normal vaginal deliveries. Majority of teenage mother (90.2%) had infant with
normal weight, 233 (8.54%) had premature rupture of membrane (PROM), and 9.5% cases had augmented labor. The most
common adverse outcome encountered by these young women in Postnatal Complication was perinatal deaths (5.02%).
Conclusion: This study highlighted the characteristics of the young women in this study that the geographical location from
where the study participants came can help health care providers point to where health interventions should target.