A gynecologist reports that 7.34% of the 18,520 pregnant women receiving prenatal care at the gynecology-obstetrics clinic of Aristide Le Dantec Hospital of Dakar, Senegal, during July 1986 to June 1989 were adolescents (age 12-17). 1.4% of the adolescents died during the same period. The most common causes of death were hypertensive conditions, infections, hemorrhaging, and anemia. The risks of adolescent pregnancy consist of those that accompany pregnancy and those that occur unexpectedly during delivery. The former include miscarriage (12.9% among the Senegalese pregnant adolescents), preeclampsia (9.4%), anemia (7.3%), fetal death (3.4%), and premature birth (5.8%). Unexpected risks during childbirth include abnormal labor, often resulting in cesarean section (4.74%), eclampsia, and abruptio placentae. Multiparity in adolescents increases these risks. Management and follow-up of these can turn them around. All problems of adolescent pregnancy lie at the level of management and follow-up. In fact, delay of the first prenatal care visit and the lack of monitoring increases the likelihood of preeclampsia, prematurity, anemia, and other risks. In Senegal, the first visit for a pregnant adolescent is usually late because the pregnancy is hidden and not well accepted. The risks are more associated with the development of the body than the age of the adolescent. Pregnancy acts like a brake to longitudinal growth. If it occurs after the first menstruation, it also adversely affects pelvis size. It appears that adolescent mothers who weighed less than normal before pregnancy deliver large infants.