Teen Pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy has been proven to be linked with premature births, a high risk of birth defects and maternal complications. Teenage pregnancy is a problem that impacts every community. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has embarked on a campaign to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. Evidence from data released by the National Center for Health Statistics suggests that as of December 2007, the preliminary data from 2006 indicated that teenage birth rates have increased for the first time in15 years. One of the areas experiencing the highest increase is Ector County in Texas. This Texan County was noted to have the highest percentage of all births at 22.9%. The nation's agenda to reduce teenage pregnancy should be a public approach, the goal of which is to develop a public health program to aid in decreasing the number of teenage pregnancy and all associated adverse effects. In our program we plan to work in the County of Ector, Texas, to identify factors leading to the high rate of teen pregnancy and develop a program designed to reduce this number.

Problem Statement

Most teenage pregnancies are unintended and more than half of these are aborted. This rate is higher in the United States than any other industrialized nation (Speroff & Darney, 2005). One reason for this finding could be that teenagers in the United States have more sporadic and shorter sexual relationships prior to the age of 15. Rates of teenage pregnancy and related complications also differ based on ethnicity. One million teenagers between the ages of 11 and 19 years become pregnant in the United States every year.

Research to support the problem

The County of Ector Texas has 22.9% of teen pregnancies, which means that for every thousand teens in the county 229 become pregnant between the ages of 11 and 19. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, an important objective is to reduce the teenage pregnancy rate to less than 43 pregnancies per 1,000 teenagers (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998). To reach a favorable outcome of reducing teenage pregnancies certain objectives need to be implemented.

Program Objective and Goals

Ð'* The program objectives are to lower the number of pregnancies of unmarried teenage