Objective: To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teenage pregnancy, including the prevalence of preterm birth, maternal and neonatal outcomes, and associated complications.

Materials and Methods: A comparative retrospective study was conducted at Nakhon Nayok General Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Thailand. The present study focused on teenage pregnancies delivered between January 2017 and December 2022. Subjects were divided into two groups, a control group, consisting of deliveries between 2017 and 2019, and a study group, encompassing deliveries between 2020 and 2022.

Results: There were 566 cases in the study group and 644 cases in the control group, resulting in an overall teenage pregnancy prevalence of 13.9%, or 1,230 out of 8,811 deliveries. The mean age of participants was 17.4 years. Demographic characteristics between both groups were comparable. Preterm birth was observed in 11.8% of all teenage pregnancies, with a lower preterm birth rate in the study group compared to the control group at 9.5% versus 13.8%, respectively, and this difference was statistically significant. The rates of cesarean delivery, low birth weight (LBW), and stillbirth did not change significantly before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the postpartum, the study group displayed a preference for long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods, with 83% choosing LARC, compared to 75.6% in the control group (p=0.001).

Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of preterm births among teenage pregnancies decreased. Additionally, there was an increase in the preference for LARC methods among teenage pregnancy cases.

Keywords: Teenage pregnancy; COVID-19; Pregnancy outcome; Contraception

DOI: 10.35755/jmedassocthai.2023.12.13921

Received 28 August 2023 | Revised 19 October 2023 | Accepted 6 November 2023