Gestações sucessivas na adolescência

This study aimed to survey the knowledge produced on the occurrence of successive pregnancies in adolescence, through a bibliographic review of scientific works published between 1980 and 2005. First, we investigate the reproductive dynamics of the youth population; then, we present the review of several studies that deal with successive pregnancies in adolescence, listing the several concepts used to specify the phenomenon. Very few scientific productions about the theme were found; however, they provided important data for the understanding of this phenomenon, specially concerning its number, the likelihood of its repetition in the absence of resources to protect the period after delivery, the education level of the pregnant youths, their return to school, and the adequate use they make of contraceptive methods. Nevertheless, these data can be questioned, since several authors describe high indexes of recurrent pregnancies of adolescents when they have a stable partner, whether they are married or in consensual unions. It is possible to think, in this case, that this population, after the first pregnancy, definitively assumes a stable conjugal life, considerably modifying the classic profile of the "pregnant adolescent".