Teen pregnancy rates cut in half
David DeMille
ddemille@thespectrum.com
ST. GEORGE – Teen childbearing rates have been dropping steadily for nearly two decades in Utah, but some top health care officials are urging more efforts to prevent teen pregnancies and the negative consequences that often come with them.
New data from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy indicates there were 77,010 teen births in the state between 1991 and 2010, often leading to a variety of challenges for the young mothers and the communities needed to support them. In 2010 alone, such early child births cost Utah taxpayers $71 million, according to the report, which accounts for costs often associated with teen motherhood, such as increased needs for public health care, more child welfare, and often increased rates of incarceration and lower earning potential for those children born to young mothers.
The good news is that the rate of births per 1,000 girls dropped 51 percent in that 20-year time frame, and various efforts nationally have helped to encourage similar trends throughout the country. According to the National Campaign, every state had seen a decline in that time frame, among all ethnic groups.
May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, a national campaign developed as part of a national initiative pushed by the president and various health organizations.
"Births to younger teens pose the greatest risk of poor medical, social and economic outcomes," said CDC Director Tom Frieden. "Efforts to prevent teen childbearing need to focus on evidence-based approaches to delaying sexual activity and increasing use of the most effective methods of contraception for those teens who are sexually active."
Teenage mothers are forced to brave a long list of obstacles that most of their peers don't, said Heidi Tasso, the counselor at Millcreek High School.
"Just the cost of daycare is a big pull to drop out of school," Tasso said, noting that many mothers feel pressure to either stay at home and handle child-rearing or find work to pay for child care.
Then there are the obvious challenges that come with a lack of maturity, and with the sense of ostracism that some mothers feel, failing to fit in with their schoolmates or sometimes with friends and family, Tasso said.
In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report indicating that although rates have been falling significantly since 1991, a quarter of children born to teens are still born to mothers who are 17 or younger. Such births happen disproportionately with girls from low-income families and with minorities, and teens often report knowing little about sex or pregnancy prevention.
More than 80 percent of teens surveyed had not received any formal sex education before having sex for the first time, and nearly one in four had never spoken with their parents or guardians about sex.
While prevention remains a priority, groups have also worked to step up support systems for teens who do become mothers.
Many teenage mothers in Washington County choose to attend Millcreek for the counseling programs and offerings such as an on-site daycare, and the school district offers various counseling options, but there also is a larger community effort to supply the needed support structure, Tasso said.
Entities like the St. George Dixie Elks Lodge, the Learning Center for Families, Intermountain Healthcare and the Dixie State University nursing program lend a hand in helping young mothers negotiate their various responsibilities, Tasso said.
Follow David DeMille on Twitter, @SpectrumDeMille.
Teen childbearing in Utah
• Total number of births given in 2011: 2,542.
• Teen birth rate in 2012: 23.3 births per 1,000 girls.
• Change in teen birth rate since 1991: down 51 percent.
• Rank nationally: 13th-lowest.
Source: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.