Managing teenage pregnancies: success and failure in two U.S. communities
Allen, J.E.; Bender, D.
Health Care Management Review 5(2): 85-93
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0361-6274 PMID: 7419390 Document Number: 636547
Two communities with differing outlooks on the management of adolescent fertility were studied and their success in coping with it measured in terms of the American Public Health Association guidelines and research questions on adolescent fertility. The health department of "Southern City," an urban community, concentrated on service provision, used only local county funds in part to avoid encumbering itself with Federal and State guidelines, provided service to all regardless of age or marital status with no consent requirements, and saw itself as providing a leadership role in meeting the needs of adolescents. The "Farmville" health department, on the other hand, was strongly committed to guidelines and regulations established by others, saw its mission as filling gaps left by private medical practitioners, used only State and Federal funding, and insisted on parental consent for family planning services for minors. A comparison of the fertility performance of adolescents in the 2 communities showed Farmville teenagers to be having about as many babies per 1000 females aged 15-19 as in Southern City, but to be experiencing unwanted births almost 400 percent more often than their Southern City counterparts. In both communities however, teenagers wanted only 1/4 of the infants born to them. Southern City, unlike Farmville, was found to have moved toward adoption of most APHA guidelines and policies, and its greater success in lowering excess fertility among sexually active teenagers appears to be convincing initial evidence of the effectiveness of APHA policies.