According to new study, teenage moms are more likely to give birth ahead of time and have underweight infants.

The research also showed that one quarter of teenage moms get pregnant again before they turn 20, and that they are at particular risk of a preterm birth the second time around.

These teens are 93% more likely than adult women to give birth prematurely.

Boffins at the University College Cork in Ireland, who carried out the survey of over 55,000 births, called for more health and sex education to prevent the "biological immaturity" of teen mothers from harming their babies' prospects.

Preterm infants generally defined as those born before 37 weeks in pregnancy are more prone to various medical troubles and are at higher risk of dying during the first year of life.

Ali Khashan, who conducted the study, stated the outcomes indicated that some teenage girls were failing to get proper medical opinion after getting pregnant and that young moms tended to slip through the net of the health services when they had a second child.

Khashan said, "It is possible that the increased risk of poor pregnancy outcome is related to biological immaturity."

"It is also possible that the increased risk of poor pregnancy outcome in the second teenage pregnancy is related to numerous complicating factors such as greater social deprivation and less prenatal care," he added. (With Inputs from Agencies)