May is Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. During this month, we encourage adolescents to make healthy decisions, foster communication and develop meaningful relationships. This month celebrates a National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on
May 2.
The purpose of the day is to focus the attention of teens on the importance of avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood. On the National Day, teens nationwide are asked to visit www.teenpregnancy.org and take a short, scenario-based “quiz” that asks what they would do in a number of “at-risk” situations. The message is straightforward: sex has consequences.
The Parent University is a peer-leader training course for the county's Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) Program. Informative sessions will cover discovering the “True Colors” of your communication style, learning when and how to talk with your teen, peer pressure and Internet safety.
The PSI program is designed to teach teens to understand social pressures that influence sexual behavior, to understand their rights in social relationships, to avoid risky situations that might lead to sexual involvement, to deal with pressure situations through the use of assertive responses and to postpone sexual involvement.
Why do we still need events and programs such as National Day, Parent University and peer led interventions? Despite hitting the lowest level in 30 years, 31 percent of teenage girls become pregnant at least once before they reach age 20. Many teens say they are concerned about pregnancy, but still think “it can't happen to me.” But it does - to 750,000 girls every year. And the No. 1 reason teens give is that they weren't planning to have sex, it “just happened.”
Birth rates vary according to county, however, it is important to know that in Cayuga County, 8.5 percent of all births were to teens. This figure is just slightly above the national average of 8 percent. In comparison, Tompkins County reports 5.6 percent of births were attributed to teen mothers and in Onondaga County the figure is 10 percent (2003).
Teen pregnancy can have negative health implications for both the mother and child. Evidence suggests that babies born to teen mothers are at increased risk for specific health problems compared to babies born to older mothers. Reducing teen pregnancy will not only improve the health of teens and their future children, it will also reduce some of the costs of public health services. Some other risks of teen pregnancy are:
€ Infants being born prematurely and at a low birth-weight. This puts newborns at greater risk for infant death, respiratory distress syndrome, bleeding in the brain, vision loss and serious intestinal problems.
€ Teen mothers are also more likely than mothers over the age of 25 to smoke during pregnancy, often teen mothers are not at adequate pre-pregnancy weight and/or do not gain the appropriate amount of weight while pregnant.
€ Compared to older pregnant women, pregnant teens are far less likely to receive timely and consistent prenatal care.
€ Recent research indicates that while there is little difference in their child's health status as reported by teen mothers or by older mothers, the children of teen mothers are less likely to visit a medical care provider. Teen mothers are also slightly more likely than similarly situated older mothers to report that their child has a chronic health condition.
Early pregnancy not only has health implications for the children of young mothers, it has implications for the teens as well. Helping teens to avoid or reduce risky sexual behavior will help prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
For more information, visit www.teenwire.com or call Sue at 253-5709 for the Postponing Sexual Involvement Program.
Elane Daly is director of Health and Human Services for Cayuga County. She can be reached at 253-1560 or cchealth@dfa.state.ny.us
If you go
What: Parent University,
When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 5
Where: Holiday Inn, North Street, Auburn
Cost: Free
Sponsored by: Reduce Adolescent Pregnancy Coalition
To learn more: Call Kathleen or Maureen at 253-2222 ext. 323
The purpose of the day is to focus the attention of teens on the importance of avoiding too-early pregnancy and parenthood. On the National Day, teens nationwide are asked to visit www.teenpregnancy.org and take a short, scenario-based “quiz” that asks what they would do in a number of “at-risk” situations. The message is straightforward: sex has consequences.
The Parent University is a peer-leader training course for the county's Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) Program. Informative sessions will cover discovering the “True Colors” of your communication style, learning when and how to talk with your teen, peer pressure and Internet safety.
The PSI program is designed to teach teens to understand social pressures that influence sexual behavior, to understand their rights in social relationships, to avoid risky situations that might lead to sexual involvement, to deal with pressure situations through the use of assertive responses and to postpone sexual involvement.
Why do we still need events and programs such as National Day, Parent University and peer led interventions? Despite hitting the lowest level in 30 years, 31 percent of teenage girls become pregnant at least once before they reach age 20. Many teens say they are concerned about pregnancy, but still think “it can't happen to me.” But it does - to 750,000 girls every year. And the No. 1 reason teens give is that they weren't planning to have sex, it “just happened.”
Birth rates vary according to county, however, it is important to know that in Cayuga County, 8.5 percent of all births were to teens. This figure is just slightly above the national average of 8 percent. In comparison, Tompkins County reports 5.6 percent of births were attributed to teen mothers and in Onondaga County the figure is 10 percent (2003).
Teen pregnancy can have negative health implications for both the mother and child. Evidence suggests that babies born to teen mothers are at increased risk for specific health problems compared to babies born to older mothers. Reducing teen pregnancy will not only improve the health of teens and their future children, it will also reduce some of the costs of public health services. Some other risks of teen pregnancy are:
€ Infants being born prematurely and at a low birth-weight. This puts newborns at greater risk for infant death, respiratory distress syndrome, bleeding in the brain, vision loss and serious intestinal problems.
€ Teen mothers are also more likely than mothers over the age of 25 to smoke during pregnancy, often teen mothers are not at adequate pre-pregnancy weight and/or do not gain the appropriate amount of weight while pregnant.
€ Compared to older pregnant women, pregnant teens are far less likely to receive timely and consistent prenatal care.
€ Recent research indicates that while there is little difference in their child's health status as reported by teen mothers or by older mothers, the children of teen mothers are less likely to visit a medical care provider. Teen mothers are also slightly more likely than similarly situated older mothers to report that their child has a chronic health condition.
Early pregnancy not only has health implications for the children of young mothers, it has implications for the teens as well. Helping teens to avoid or reduce risky sexual behavior will help prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
For more information, visit www.teenwire.com or call Sue at 253-5709 for the Postponing Sexual Involvement Program.
Elane Daly is director of Health and Human Services for Cayuga County. She can be reached at 253-1560 or cchealth@dfa.state.ny.us
If you go
What: Parent University,
When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 5
Where: Holiday Inn, North Street, Auburn
Cost: Free
Sponsored by: Reduce Adolescent Pregnancy Coalition
To learn more: Call Kathleen or Maureen at 253-2222 ext. 323
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