The March of Dimes has awarded the Uintah Basin District Health Department a $30,000 grant to be used to provide a Teenage Pregnancy Outreach and Education Program in Duchesne, Uintah and Daggett counties.
The two-year grant will provide $15,000 per year. The majority of the funding will go to pay the salaries of the administrators.The two-pronged teen pregnancy program will provide "outreach" in the form of community support meetings, teenage discussion panels, peer support groups and early intervention to ensure that pregnant teens get the proper prenatal care they need for a healthy pregnancy, according to Gloria Johnson, district public health educator.
"The education segment of the program will provide reproductive education for parents of adolescents and pre-adolescents, along with goal-oriented and self-esteem classes for teenagers," Johnson said.
District health officials applied for the grant a year ago in hopes of combating teenage pregnancy. Uintah County has the highest per capita teenage birthrate of any county in the state. Duchesne County ranks third, just below San Juan County.
According to figures for 1989 (the latest available figures) from Utah's Vital Statistic Department, Uintah County had 16 teens ages 15 through 17 give birth and 38 teens ages 18 to 19 deliver babies. In Duchesne County, with half the population base of neighboring Uintah County, 13 girls ages 15 through 17 had babies and 19 girls ages 18 through 19 gave birth. Records show a girl under the age of 15 in the Uintah Basin also delivered a child. There are no records of how many teenage girls were pregnant but miscarried or had abortions.
Other statistics point to problems associated with teenage pregnancy. In 1988 (the latest available figures), 82 babies out of every 1,000 born in the Uintah Basin had low birth weight, compared with the state average of 57 births per 1,000. The rate of out-of-wedlock pregnancies in the tri-county area was also high for the state, with 164 babies out of 1,000 born to single mothers. The statewide average is 117 babies born out-of-wedlock per 1,000 births.
Johnson said town meetings will be held during the next few months to gather community input on how to educate parents and teens about the problem of teenage pregnancy.
She said studies show that targeting a child's self-esteem and goal-setting abilities can help turn the problem around. "I believe strongly in the resiliency of self-esteem and the need for kids to learn to make their own decisions. We have to guide these kids into being self-sufficient, capable adults. I believe the kids need to learn to look forward to other things in their life. Babies are wonderful but (teenagers) need to know there's a right time."