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Teen pregnancies: Dougherty No. 17

• Terrell County ranks second among Georgia's 159 counties in teen pregnancies.

Barbara Rivera Holmes

Taking Time for Teens and the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy urge teens to take an online survey at www.stayteen.org.

ALBANY — While Georgia can boast of being a leader in areas such as business and agriculture, it can do the same for teen pregnancy.

In 2004 the state ranked 43rd in the union for the highest teenage pregnancy rate, said Dr. Jacqueline Grant, director of the Southwest Georgia Public Health District, which encompasses 14 counties.

Among Georgia’s 159 counties, Dougherty County has the 17th highest teen pregnancy rate, she said, while Terrell County all but leads the pack at No. 2.

“You can see we have some issues,” Grant said Wednesday during the Taking Time for Teens Community Meeting held on National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The program was sponsored by the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (GCAPP)and the Network of Trust at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.

Grant, an obstetrician/gynecologist, said, “I see girls that come in with no prenatal care. They are 21 years old on their fifth pregnancy.”

In 2004, teen pregnancies cost Georgia $344 million, Grant said. Between 1999-2004, when those teen birth rates rates dropped by 30 percent to 249,000 births — “the good days for teen birth rates,” Grant said — the toll on the state was $5.9 billion.

But she warned, “It’s not just a dollars and cents game.”

Teen births also result in lower educational attainment for the mothers and their offspring, Grant said, increases the likelihood of female-headed households and ups the risk of generational poverty.

According to BizJournals following a report by the U.S. Census Bureau, communities with an educated population have a “brighter economic future” than those with a less education work force.

Lack of or poor prenatal care increases the risk of developments such as premature birth, Grant said. Medical complications can lead to greater health care costs.

So given all the data, what can communities do?

Andrea Sharpe of GCAPP said there lacks clear information as to what works best in targeting pregnancies in today’s youth. Two things that do help, she said, are sending clear and consistent messages about teen pregnancy and addressing risk-taking behavior (such as drinking alcohol) that can contribute to sexual activity.

“Back in the 1990s, we know that education and support did work,” said Sharpe, whose Atlanta-based organization “works to increase the capacity of the way we work with youth.”

During that time, Grant said, there also was an increase in abstinence as well as access to and use of contraceptives.

“Two-thirds of high school students are sexually active by the senior prom,” said Grant.

The increase in sexual activity and decrease in use of contraceptives hasn’t just been a boon to pregnancy rates, Grant said, but contributed to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

In 2006, there were 625 cases of STDs in Dougherty County, she said, about 50 percent of all confirmed cases in the 14-county health district. That figure reflects only those cases that were diagnosed and reported and doesn’t include HIV/AIDS.

Between 2004-2007, she said, there were 32 new reported cases in Dougherty County of HIV/AIDS in people ages 15-24, also half the cases in the health district.

While speakers focused on teen pregnancies, Grant noted that one-third “of all pregnancies in the United States aren’t welcome and aren’t limited to teens,” rather women ages 20-25.

“We cannot ignore these problems,” she said.

In an effort to address the issue, the Network of Trust acts as a liaison between members of Taking Time for Teens, which meets weekly.

The coalition is moving into its third year partnering with GCAPP on a research project that includes the five-county Albany Metropolitan Statistical Area, Savannah and Dalton.

“We believe that this is the time to take a look at what we are doing to teach abstinence,” said Barber, who said the coalition’s partners, among its 28, includes faith-based organization and the school systems.

“It’s all about working together,” she said. “We have to build these bridges.”

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