Three Fold Rise in Pregnancy Among Young Girls With Mental Illness, Study Finds

According to a study documented in the journal Pediatrics, young girls with some kind of mental illness are three times more susceptible to getting pregnant.

The study by researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Women's College Hospital analyzed trends in fertility rate among young girls battling mental illness. The study is the first of its kind to claim that teenage girls with mental illness suffer a higher risk of becoming mothers when compared to those without a mental condition.

"Research tells us that young girls are at high risk of pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, poor fetal growth and postpartum depression," said Dr. Simone Vigod, a psychiatrist at Women's College Hospital and an adjunct scientist at ICES. "Add to this a pre-existing mental illness, and these young women are forced to manage significant additional challenges."

The researchers examined rates of live birth from 1999-2009 among 4.5 million girls of age 15-19 in Ontario. The group comprised a mix of girls with and without mental illness. The experts found that young girls with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and other psychotic disorders were three times more likely to become parents during their teen years.

Though the study highlighted a drop in birth rates among adolescent girls with or without the illness, the gap among the groups soared during the 10-year study period. There was a 14 percent fall in live births among adolescent girls with mental illness when compared to the 22 percent drop observed in girls without mental illness.

"Although we do know some of the risk factors behind why girls with mental health illness may be at increased risk of becoming pregnant, pregnancy prevention programs in most developed countries have not traditionally considered mental health issues" added Vigod.

The rate of teenage pregnancy can be lowered by introducing reproductive and mental health care programs.