Brief Report: A Socio-Demographic Profile of Multiparous Teenage Mothers

Objective: Delineate a socio-demographic profile of multiparous teenage mothers at a public hospital in Brazil. Method: This is a cross-sectional study consisting of 915 interviews with teenage girls, including 170 multiparous subjects whose babies were born alive. Results: The multiparous teenage mothers had the following average characteristics: 17.8 years old; first pregnancy at 16 years; beginning of sexual life at 14.2 years; dropped out of school at 13.6 years; attended school for 6 years with only 10% still attending school when they were interviewed; 87.4% had prenatal exams; monthly income was reported to be 0.3% less than the national minimum salary. Conclusion: Teenage mothers are in need of better social, educational, and health care in order to have a greater chance of a positive motherhood experience, thereby creating a better, healthier environment for their children. (Contains 1 table.)