Teen pregnancy prevention strategies topic of community forum May 14 in Mobile

Members of Think Teen'sYouth Leadership Team pose for a photo in Mobile.

MOBILE, Ala. – The Mobile County Health Department’s ThinkTeen initiative is presenting a community discussion on Thursday, May 14, called “Destination Collaboration” that focuses on celebrating the strides made in lowering the occurrence of teen pregnancies in Mobile County. Goals also will be set to further reduce the number of births to teen mothers in the area, organizers said.
The panel discussion will be from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. May 14, 2015, at Junior League Headquarters on Sage Avenue in Midtown Mobile.

In 2010, 786 teen births occurred in Mobile County. Three years later, in 2013, that number decreased to 667. Now, the Mobile County Health Department's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, ThinkTeen, wants to engage the community in helping to reduce the number of births by 50 percent.

The collaborative discussion will be led by Suzette Brann, Associate Director of Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Advocates for Youth. A panel discussion will follow Brann’s remarks. The panel includes: Dr. Carl Cunningham Jr. of the University of South Alabama; Pebbles King with the Mobile County Health Department (MCHD); Dr. Jackie Gonner of USA; Mechelle Spriggs with Mobile County Public Schools; Dr. Angelia Lewis with MCHD’s Family Health division and a member of the Youth Leadership Team.

Although teen pregnancy rates have declined, Alabama still has one of the highest rates in teen pregnancy in the U.S. and Mobile County has the second highest rate among the three largest counties in Alabama.

Teen pregnancies affect the entire community. In 2010, teen pregnancy and childbirth accounted for at least $9.4 billion in costs to U.S. taxpayers for increased health care and foster care, increased incarceration rates among children of teen parents and lost tax revenue because of lower educational attainment and income among teen mothers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pregnancy and birth are significant contributors to high school drop-out rates among girls. Only about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by 22 years of age, versus approximately 90% of women who had not given birth during adolescence.

For more information, visit www.thinkteen.org , @thinkteenmc or call 251.690.7334.