BIRTHS BY YOUNGER AND OLDER MOTHERS IN A POPULATION WITH LATE AND REGULATED CHILDBEARING - FINLAND 1991

Purposes. The aims of this study were: first, to ascertain the charact eristics of younger and older mothers in the Finnish population; secon d, to assess the health conditions pertaining to births and newborns a ccording to maternal age groups. Methods. The data, 26 373 primiparous and 38 895 multiparous women, came from the 1991 nationwide Finnish b irth register, and was completed using death and education registers. The younger (<18 and 18-19 year olds) and older (35-39 and 40 and over ) mothers were compared to 20-34 year olds. Infant outcomes were studi ed by adjusting for mothers' social and obstetric background character istics by using stepwise logistic regression. Results. Births were rar e among women younger than 18 years or 40 years or older. Younger prim iparous mothers (less than 20 years) were less often married, more oft en had a lower social class background, and tended to live in Northern Finland and used antenatal care somewhat less. Their pregnancies, giv ing birth and infant outcomes were similar to those of 20-34 years old mothers. Most older mothers were women having their families late, ra ther than having big families. Older primiparas (35 years or older) we re less likely to be married, were more often highly educated and live d in urban areas and in the most southern county. Older mothers had mo re problems during pregnancy and labor, and their infant outcomes were worse. Conclusions. Our study supports the notion that for young moth ers giving birth is a social rather than a medical problem, whereas th e reverse is true for older mothers. However, perinatal results for mo st older mothers are good.