Teenage Pregnancies and Health Outcomes at Mutoko District Hospital, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Different efforts and initiatives have been put in place including commitments on targets, interventions and guidelines to reduce health risks and life-threatening dangers to women during pregnancy and child-birth. Teenage mothers are at greatest risk of pregnancy related complications. This study explored linkages to care for teenage pregnant mothers and the associated barriers as well as describing the health outcomes of teenage mothers giving birth at Mutoko District Hospital, Mashonaland East Province. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Mutoko District Hospital in January and February 2020 using the mixed method approach. Quantitative data was collected from patient records using a standardized questionnaire which included information on age, utilization of ante natal care services, mode of delivery and fetal outcomes. A total of 259 women were included in the study. Qualitative data was collected using a key informant interview guide with trained staff from the maternity ward. Analysis of data was done using Epi Info. Overall, 30.9% of teenage mothers reported to have visited ante-natal care services less than 4 times. The majority (68.8%) of the teenage mothers who visited ante-natal care services for more than 4 times were in the 17-19 age category. Iron supplementation was given to almost all of the teenage mothers (98.1%) with the exception of 5 (1.9%) of the mothers who were not booked. About half (48.6%) of study participants delivered their babies with a gestational age of 37-40 weeks. The majority (80.3%) of teenage mothers delivered through normal vertex delivery with 24 (9.3%) undergoing caesarian section. All teenage mothers in the less than 17 years age category gave birth to babies with an Apgar score greater than 7 at 5 minutes. Findings from this study indicate that many opportunities for ante-natal care services were being enjoyed by most of the teenage mothers in Mutoko including accessing services like iron and folate supplementation during pregnancy which benefitted both the mother and the baby for favorable obstetric and birth outcomes. Youth friendly health services need to be established. Contrary to popular belief that teenage mothers are at a greater risk of adverse birth outcomes, this study found positive outcomes for both mother and baby when given access to ANC services.