Be Proud, Be Responsible! is a new program in Shelby County that works with schools, churches and community centers to educate teen girls and boys on pregnancy prevention.
Pregnancy is often a difficult time for women. Furthermore, women who lack the sufficient resources to take care of themselves and their growing children, face pregnancy with even greater stress.
In Shelby County, 15% of all children are born to teenage mothers.1 These children face many obstacles in their early years in part because their mothers (and fathers) are not well prepared to be parents.
This brief, The Implications of Teen Parenting in Shelby County, Tennessee, discusses teen parenting in Shelby County, outlines negative outcomes associated with teen parenting, both for children and for parents and provides information about local resources for teen families.
Teen pregnancy is of national concern because of the critical implications it has for a number of social and economic issues: poverty, education, infant mortality rates, early brain development and overall quality of life for both the mother and child.
Research that was presented at the 2009 Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting found that getting a flu vaccine during pregnancy greatly improves a child’s chances of having healthy birth outcomes.