Do early adolescent and advanced maternal age pregnancies affect term birthweight?

The effects of the maternal age on pregnancy outcomes have been shown in many studies. Adolescent (ages 10 to 19 years) and older age (≥35 years) pregnancies have been reported that they have higher maternal and fetal risks than pregnancies between the ages of 20-34, which is accepted as the normal reproductive age (NRA) (1, 2). The frequency of adolescent pregnancies (AP) has decreased over the years, being reported as 11%. While the adolescent fertility rate in Turkey was 32 per thousand in 2011, it was reported to have decreased to 24 per thousand in 2016, and 21 per thousand in 2017. In our country, frequency of AP between regions varies widely (3, 4). Those under 15 years of age are defined as early adolescent pregnancy (EAP) and 15 -19 years of age are defined as late adolescent pregnancy (LAP) (2). The age range definition in EAP is generally based on statistical studies. Phipps et al. show in their study that 15-year-old pregnancies have similar risks with <15 years of pregnancy. The risk decreases slightly at the age of 15 (5). Advanced maternal age (AMA) at birth has been accepted as 35 years of age and above and the frequency of AMA reaches to 14.3%. The frequency of AMA pregnancies aged 40 years and older (AMA ≥ 40) was reported as 2.3%, which are more important in terms of maternal and fetal risks. Today, AMA pregnancies are increasing all over the world (6). It may cause an increase in the risk of perinatal morbidity/mortality as well as an increase in maternal morbidity/mortality risk at the ages of both ends of the reproductive period (7-9).