Letter to the Editor: May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

Dear Editor,

May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month and Healthy Start Manatee, as a proud member of the Healthy Teens Coalition of Manatee, is working to help raise awareness of this critical issue locally.

Florida’s Healthy Start initiative was implemented in 1992, with the goal of reducing infant mortality, the number of low birth weight babies, and to improve the overall health and developmental outcomes of newborns in the state.  As Healthy Start Manatee carries out this mandate locally, offering comprehensive care-coordination and case management to approximately 2,500 pregnant women and infants annually, we are all too familiar with the poor outcomes that are often seen among babies born to teen parents.

Teens are more likely to receive late or no prenatal care, often because they don’t know they are pregnant. Research shows that children born to teen parents are more likely to be born at a low birth weight, face health problems, experience developmental delays, and are twice as likely to be placed in foster care.  As they grow older, children of teens are more likely to drop out of school, become teen parents themselves, and experience homelessness.

Manatee County has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state, ranking 11th out of 67 counties and Florida, as well, has a high rate, ranking 12th in the nation.  In 2004, it was estimated that teen childbearing in Florida cost taxpayers $481 million, according to a study by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

The Healthy Teens Coalition (HTC) of Manatee County is a grassroots group of professionals and nonprofit agencies with the mission of promoting healthy, responsible behavior in Manatee County youth in partnership with the community.  The HTC’s broad membership aims to engage young people, parents and families, community leaders, decision and policy makers, and the general public in the conversation about this public health concern that impacts all of us.

Collectively, as a community, we must make every effort to address the myriad risk factors our teens are facing.  We must work to ensure Manatee’s young people have access to the tools, education, and information that will equip them to recognize their own value and potential, identify life goals, and ultimately make healthy, informed decisions that will lead to a positive future. 
 
Sincerely,
Jackie Kelsey, MSN
Healthy Start Board President
941-798-9168