Journal des soins de santé des femmes
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Social Support among Pregnant Adolescent and Young Adults during Prenatal Ultrasound Study in A Single Tertiary Level Hospital

Sara Lee, Noam Lazebnik, Krystel Tossone, Matthew Bauer, Rina Lazebnik

Introduction: Prenatal care and support is essential to improving birth outcomes for teen pregnancy. Pregnant teens and young adults have access to a variety of support people. The study evaluated the identity of personal social support of pregnant adolescents and young adults (AYA) during prenatal ultrasound study.
Methods: We conducted a descriptive retrospective observational study from a tertiary OBGYN referral center from August 2010 to April 2013; participants were pregnant women 21 years of age or younger referred for ultrasound study. The main outcome measure was documentation of social support person(s) accompanying the patient.
Results: A total of 517 patients with an age range of 13 to 21 (mean 17.75) underwent 1,058 ultrasound studies. The father of the baby was the most frequent person accompanying the patient (33.4%), followed by the patient’s mother (25.2%). Age was significantly associated with type of support person, with older AYA more likely to present with the father of the baby. Finding an abnormality on ultrasound did not result in increased follow-up or a change in support person.
Discussion: The majority of adolescents and young adults will show to an ultrasound study accompanied by one or more individuals as social support. Patient’s age is the strongest variable affecting who will be the social support person.