Babies of Teen Dads at Risk for Birth Problems

A study published in the journal Human Reproduction reports that babies of teenage fathers (ages 19 and younger) are at higher risk of having problems at birth than babies born to older dads.

According to a Reuters 2/6/2008 article about the study published on the Scientific American Web site, these babies are:

--15% more likely to be born premature

--13% more likely to have a low birthrate

--13% more likely to have a low Apgar score

--22% higher risk to die in the first 4 weeks after birth

--41% higher risk to die after the first 4 weeks and before the first birthday