Outcomes of caring teenage mothers and their children in young family clinic, siriraj hospital

Background: A promising clinical service in Siriraj Hospital, the young family clinic (YFC), is a one-stop service to provide care for adolescent mothers and their children to prevent subsequent pregnancy, promote child-rearing, and avoid child maltreatment. Objective: To evaluate the outcomes of teenage mothers and their children attending YFC regularly for at least two years. Material and Method: Sixty-four mother-infants pairs were included in the present study through charts reviewed. A descriptive analysis was performed by using SPSS version 18. Results: Mean age of teenage mothers was 17.2±1.9 years. After delivery, most of them (84.4%) dropped out from school and remained unemployed. Eighteen point three percent reported illicit drug use and all of them became abstinent. There was no subsequent pregnancy in the two-year follow-up at our service, because most of them (95.3%) chose one of the contraceptive methods. The common option was the long-acting reversible contraception (92.2%). Most of them developed good parenting skills after receiving the education in the clinic (86%), and two third of them (67.3%) continued breastfeeding for at least four months. Most of the children (86.7%) had normal growth and development. There was no depression in teenage mothers or child maltreatment. Conclusion: Outcomes of the YFC showed a good quality of comprehensive health care service for teenage mothers and their children. This hospital-based clinic should be provided to prevent negative consequences of both adolescent mothers and their offspring.