141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

279986
Who is having indended births: An analysis of two adolescent birth cohorts (2000-2001 and 2010-2011)

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Ann M. Dozier, RN, PhD , Public Health Sciences/Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Isia Rech Nzikou Pembe , University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Background. Births to teens are a major public health issue, contributing to poorer outcomes for the infant/child and mother across health, developmental milestones and SES. Not all teen pregnancies are unintended. Understanding this phenomenon can inform public health interventions. Methods. Using birth certificate data we analyzed teen births (ages=<19) from an upstate New York region comparing two birth cohorts: 2000-2001 (n=2252) and 2010-2011 (n=1614). Across the cohorts bivariate analyses described the profile of teens having intended births and compared them to teens with unintended births. Results. Intended births represented 29.9% and 24.8% respectively in the two cohorts and declined by 40% primarily among younger teens (ages 12-15; 2000/01 cohort=8.1%; 2010/11 cohort=1.5%). No significant differences were found among key maternal characteristics but over time normal BMI declined (2000/01 cohort=59.1%; 2010/11 cohort=57.2%) as did first trimester prenatal care initiation (63.8%;59.0%) while smoking during pregnancy (29.9%;35.3%) and medical risk in pregnancy (22.7%;24.3%) increased. Within the cohorts, risk factors associated with intendedness (vs. unintendedness) differed. Teens with intended births from both cohorts were more likely (p<0.05) to be: older, US-born, multiparous; have an STI during pregnancy. Those in the 2000-2001 cohort were additionally significant for: Black, Hispanic, have pre-pregnancy medical risk, inadequate prenatal care and Medicaid as delivery payor. The 2010/2011 teens were additionally significant for non-Black race, smoking during pregnancy and referral for high risk. Conclusions. Intended births among teens declined and their profile changed. Assumptions about this subpopulation need revision. Careful assessment and monitoring of these teens and additional study is warranted.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology

Learning Objectives:
Describe the differences in demographic characteristics between teens having intended and unintended births and how these may have changed overtime. Discuss implications for programs dealing with intended births to teen mothers

Keywords: Pregnancy, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked in Maternal Child Health since 1980; I have a PhD in Nursing and have been a MCH researcher and program evaluator for over 15 years; I manage the regional birth certificate data for a 9 county region from which these data were derived;
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.