ABSTRACT

Objective:

Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female at the age of 18 years and below. The proportion of teenage pregnancies in Turkey is between 8% and 12%. Pregnancies among 10- to 19-year-old individuals (determined as adolescence according to The World Health Organization adversely affect the physical, mental and psychological health of the mother and baby. Our study aims to examine the main characteristics of pregnancies under the age of 18 years, who applied Children Monitoring Center in Trabzon, Turkey.

Methods:

We retrospectively investigated cases of underaged pregnant girls who applied to Children Monitoring Center in Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine between 2015 and 2020.

Results:

Between 2015 and 2020, 18 adolescents were found under the age of 18 years. In 3 of 6 cases requested for genital examination, old tears were observed in hymen. It was determined that 3 pregnancies occurred in the first trimester with criminal abortion. Three cases were terminated with therapeutic curettage in the first trimester. Premature birth was detected in 2 cases. In 10 cases, it was determined that delivery occurred at the end of term. It was determined that 9 perpetrators were the lover of the victim, 5 cases covered by incest, 3 of them were cousins and 2 of them were brother-in-law and rest 4 of them were unofficial spouses.

Conclusions:

In a teenage pregnancy study conducted in a district area of Turkey, 48.6% of cases were reported to have no official marriage. In our study, 22% of teenage pregnancy had no official marriage. In Minnesota study, 40-70% of teenage mothers were reported to have a history of sexual abuse. In our study, all teenage mothers reported a history of sexual abuse due to the fact that our data were collected from Children Monitoring Center Trabzon, Turkey. Teenage pregnancy adversely affects the physical, mental and psychological health of the mother. In addition to medical and forensic supports, psychosocial support should also be given to teenage pregnancies.

Keywords: Child abuse, forensic science, adolescent pregnancy

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Assessment of Pregnancy Cases Under the Age of 18 Years Evaluated at Children Monitoring Center in Trabzon

ABSTRACT

References