Características del primer año de vida de hijos de madres adolescentes: un estudio descriptivo de seguimiento

Abstract

1.- Characteritics of the first year of life of children born to adolescent mothers under care of a Specialized Center of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the "Hospital Jose Joaquin Aguirre" (Universidad de Chile) are studied.
2- Children showed adequate birthweights and Agar scores and received 15,5 well-child check-ups during their first year of life. Good nutrition was found during the first three monts along with breastfeeding, but malnutrition reached 71,79 by the end of the first year. Psychomotor development was found within normal ranges in the whole group. Rates of 6.42 episodes of morbidity per child per year and 18,50 of hospital discharges were found.
3. Adolescents mothers assume their roles with the help of other adult women, mainly their own mothers. Health workers are not the main source of information concerning child care.
4. The need of long-term followup studies to evaluate the real risk of these children is commented.