Teenage Pregnancies in Nepal – The Problem Status and Socio-Legal Concerns

Abstract

Introduction: Teenage pregnancy is an issue that needs to be addressed for a better health of the women and the society. The present analysis is undertaken to find out the incidence of teenage mothers who have had hospital delivery and focuses upon the various reasons for teenage pregnancy with a brief discussion upon the associated medicolegal and social aspects. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in a tertiary hospital in western region of Nepal. The delivery case register were reviewed for teenage pregnancies and the relevant data was captured in a data sheet and analysed. Results: During the study period, a total of sixty-nine teenage pregnancies culminated into delivery/ childbirth. The mean age of teenage mother was 18.16±0.99 years. Majority of the teenage mothers had not completed their secondary education and were of low socioeconomic strata. Mode of delivery was caesarean section in thirty four cases, whereas vaginal delivery was conducted in thirty five cases. Live births accounted for 67 deliveries, a still birth case was of anencephalic foetus while the other one was a preterm which was spontaneously delivered at the 23rd weeks of gestation. Conclusions: Education and awareness in the form of campaign, advertisements, road shows, television or radio programmes are suggested for a decline in the rate of teenage marriages and teenage pregnancies in Nepal in the days to come.