234 Austrian women who gave birth to a child in the years 1972-74 were under age 18 yr. 95 of them were interviewed about changes in their life-situation due to the birth. The general attitude was, if they could choose again the date of the first pregnancy they would prefer it after 20 years. No correlation was found between early menarche and early sexual intercourse. For 60 of the women pregnancy was the reason for their marriage. Most of the young women had experience with contraceptives, but did not use them for different reasons. After the birth of the child most subjects took the pill, but 11 women left without any contraception, exposing themselves to the risk of a repeat pregnancy. Young age at birth has an impact upon prevocational training, either through interruption of the training or through total discontinuation of their education. A possible solution of the present unsatisfactory situation for young pregnant women and their social problems are interdisciplinary projects for the guidance of adolescents now being carried out in some centers in the USA.; A survey was taken of 95 women, 14-17 years of age, who had had children between 1972 and 1975. The majority said that 20 years of age or older would have been their preferred age for their first pregnancy. No correlation could be established between age at menarche and age of sexual debut. 60 of the women got married between the time of pregnancy and the time of childbirth. 21.05% had discontinued oral contraceptive use before conception. Half had not even considered the risk of pregnancy. 17 of the 22 women in an apprenticeship discontinued their education. 9 of 11 did not continue their high school educations. 68 of the women were using oral contraceptives at the time of the survey.
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