Maternal age,social class,and the obstetric performance of teenagers

It has been widely reported that teenage mothers experience more complications of labor and delivery as well as higher rates of prematurity and low-birth weight infants than women 20–30 years old. However, a few studies have suggested that birth complications are related to social class, not maternal age. The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction of social class, maternal age, and obstetric and neonatal outcome. When samples of primparous low-income and middle-income teenagers (15–19 years) were compared with samples of primiparous low-income and middle-income women (20–30 years), the reported differences by maternal age did not emerge. Instead there was evidence of a complex interaction between maternal age and social class that suggested that low-income, older mothers may be the most at-risk group, while middle-income teenage mothers may be the least at-risk group. It is suggested that risk assessment based on social class or maternal age alone is too simplistic to be useful.The author is grateful to the St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, the Maricopa County General Hospital, and the Arizona Perinatal Trust, all of Phoenix, Arizona, for access to the data. Special thanks to Steve Warford for preparation of the data set.Received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1980. Current interests are teenage sexuality, pregnancy and parenting, and the development of children in stressed households.