Ways to improve obstetric and gynecological care for pregnant adolescents

Abstract

Relevance: In recent years, the number of pregnant women among minors has been increasing due to a decrease in the age of sexual debut, an increase in the sexual activity of adolescents, and their low contraceptive culture. According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, every year in the world, more than 15 million teenage pregnancies end in childbirth. It is worth noting that pregnancy is, first of all, a load on the entire body; the mortality rate for teenage mothers in labor is three times higher than for first-time mothers aged 20-25 years. Teenage children, as a rule, are born with insufficient body weight and have a whole range of pathologies.

The study aimed to study the features of preparation for childbirth of pregnant adolescents in the Turkestan region in order to increase the coverage of adolescents, in particular pregnant women, with specialized medical care and prenatal preparation, which is of fundamental importance for the conception, gestation, and birth of a healthy child.

Materials and Methods: A sociological study was conducted through a survey among 181 postpartum adolescent women in the postpartum period at the Regional Perinatal Center No. 3. The questionnaire examined awareness of preconception preparation, awareness of the state of health in general, the attitude of pregnant adolescents to the issue of early attendance and joint responsibility for health, as well as factors impeding the availability of medical care for minor adolescents.

Results: In the Turkestan region, over the past 5 years, there has been a consistently high level of births among teenagers, which account for 2.1-3.1% (of all births in the region). Moreover, a feature of this group of postpartum women is a high level of EH (1.4 nosologies per 1 pregnant woman), as well as socio-material insecurity: only 62.8% of adolescents were married, almost all of them had student status. It was revealed that out of 181 young women in labor, only 33 (18.2%) underwent preconception preparation, which is of fundamental importance for the conception, pregnancy, and birth of a healthy child.

Conclusion: The conducted sociological study identified factors influencing the coverage of prenatal preparation for pregnant minors. It turned out that the social status of pregnant women was the strongest motivational factor influencing their seeking medical help since unmarried adolescents were the least likely to seek medical supervision.