Pregnancy in Adolescence, a Health Problem at Efraín Mayor Amaro Polyclinic in Cotorro, Havana

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescent pregnancy is one of the consequences of sexual and reproductive health unawareness, which has negative impact on the health of the mother and child, hence the importance of of working on as it classifies as a public health problem and a true social tragedy.
Objective: To characterize the behavior of pregnancy in adolescence
Methods: A descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2015 to December 2017, with 177 adolescent pregnant women who contributed live births in Efraín Mayor Amaro Teaching Polyclinic health area in the Cotorro, Havana, Cuba. The variables analyzed were age, schooling, marital status, beginning of sexual relations, number of sexual partners, use of contraceptive methods and diseases associated with pregnancy. All subjects had an anonymous survey and the family functioning test. Established ethical considerations were taken into account in this research including the subjects´s willingness to participate in the research.
Results: The predominant age ranged 17 - 19 years old, most of them had high scool level. Very few used some contraceptive methods and moderately functional families outstood.
Conclusions: More than half of these adolescents began their first sexual relations in middle adolescence. Almost all of them had more than three sexual partners. Vaginal sepsis and anemia prevailed as pregnancy-associated conditions.