The purpose of this study was to describe and compare differences in demographics, prenatal care use, and pregnancy, labor, postpartum, and neonatal complications for 129 pregnant Mexican-American adolescents who were either born in the United States or born in Mexico. A significant finding was that 25% of the teens, regardless of origin of birth, received either inadequate or no prenatal care. The findings of this study will be useful to clinicians providing health care for Hispanic teens and for administrators and policy makers who affect the types of health care and education available to these young mothers.
PIP: Currently comprising 9% of the US population, Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic minority population in the country. 26% of California's population is Hispanic. The proportion of Hispanic youth is growing rapidly, with the Hispanic youth population projected to grow by 80% by 2030. The authors describe and compare differences in demographics, the use of prenatal care, and pregnancy, labor, postpartum, and neonatal complications among 129 pregnant Mexican-American adolescents who were either born in the US or in Mexico. The mean age of the 48 young women born in Mexico was 17.9 years, while the 81 born in the US were of mean age 17.2 years. More US teens were enrolled in school than were the teens born in Mexico, Mexico-born teens were more likely to be married, and the US-born teens reported a higher incidence of cigarette smoking. US-born and Mexico-born women had an average of 6.5 and 5.5 recorded prenatal visits, respectively. 25% of the teens, regardless of the country of origin, received either inadequate or no prenatal care. 14 prenatal complications, 17 labor complications, 7 postpartum complications, and 7 neonatal complications were identified.