Recently, a furor erupted in the town of Gloucester, Mass., after a high school principal claimed publicly that at least some of his school's 17 students who became pregnant in the last year had done so as part of a pact.
News stories have since focused mostly on the extraneous: Was there really a pact? Were the girls influenced by last year's award-winning movie "Juno"?
But few have pointed out that the jump in the number of pregnancies at Gloucester High, which until now had averaged about four a year, is an extreme example of what may be a troubling trend: A national rise in the number of American teens giving birth.
Even Solano County has seen it. After more than a decade of decline, Solano's teen birth rate nudged up 1.7 percent between 2004 and 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
A study released in May by the Public Health Institute noted that Solano's 488 teenage births in 2006 cost taxpayers $16 million annually in lost tax revenue and public medical and assistance costs. Add in the teen mother's lost income, productivity and private medical expenses, and the "societal costs" come to $35 million a year, the report said.
To its credit, Solano's 31.5 births per 1,000 teens is lower than the statewide average (37.8) and far better than the national average (41.9).
In fact, California is doing a better job preventing teen births than many other states. Some studies have suggested that is because California consistently has rejected abstinence-only sex education, instead favoring comprehensive programs that encourage abstinence while supplying those who choose to ignore that good advice with age-appropriate and medically accurate information about preventing pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Providing those programs isn't cheap. The Public Health Institute report, appropriately titled "No Time for Complacency," estimates the 2007-08 cost of the state's prevention programs at $229 million. "Yet," the report pointed out, "had California continued to experience its dismal teen birth rate of 71 per 1,000 from 15 years ago, we would have had an additional 46,283 teen births in 2006. Translated into cost savings, our success represents an annual savings to California taxpayers of $1.5 billion, and a total annual savings to society of $3.3 billion."
Some of those prevention programs may well lose funds as the Legislature and the governor wrestle with the $15 billion hole in California's budget. But as they contemplate cuts, lawmakers would do well to remember that prevention is far less costly in the long run.
Besides, as much progress as California has made in bringing down the teen birth rate, it's not nearly as good as it could be. As the report notes, the median rate of teen births in other Western democracies, including Canada, Australia, Japan and a dozen European countries, is 9.2 per 1,000.
Figuring out what those countries are doing that we aren't should be the next goal of California's pregnancy prevention specialists.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Parenting Teens Celebrate High School Graduation!
Parenting teens celebrate high school graduation
By ANDREA WOLF/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 06/06/2008 06:41:44 AM PDT
Tennile Jones, 18, of Vallejo, greets her three-year old daughter, Schlette, 3, at Courtyard Marriott in Fairfield Thursday evening at a teen parent high school graduation ceremony. (Mike Jory/Times-Herald) There were a lot of times in the past three years that 18-year-old Tennille Jones thought she was never going to get that diploma.
After having her daughter when she was only 15, getting through high school was a constant challenge.
"There was a lot of crying and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, especially in the beginning" said Jones, of Fairfield. "But my daughter is the light of my life and I knew I had to graduate for her."
Diploma now in hand, Jones said she is looking forward to starting at Solano Community College with hopes of someday becoming a probation officer.
To recognize the accomplishments of pregnant and parenting teens like Jones who overcame challenges and completed high school, the Shasta-Diablo Planned Parenthood held a graduation celebration Thursday at the Courtyard Marriott in Fairfield.
About 50 teens from Napa and Solano counties dined and danced at a combination graduation and prom night.
"Pregnant and parenting teens often don't get an opportunity to have a graduation or go to prom," said Tracy Nunley, director of communication services for Solano Planned Parenthood.
By ANDREA WOLF/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 06/06/2008 06:41:44 AM PDT
Tennile Jones, 18, of Vallejo, greets her three-year old daughter, Schlette, 3, at Courtyard Marriott in Fairfield Thursday evening at a teen parent high school graduation ceremony. (Mike Jory/Times-Herald) There were a lot of times in the past three years that 18-year-old Tennille Jones thought she was never going to get that diploma.
After having her daughter when she was only 15, getting through high school was a constant challenge.
"There was a lot of crying and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, especially in the beginning" said Jones, of Fairfield. "But my daughter is the light of my life and I knew I had to graduate for her."
Diploma now in hand, Jones said she is looking forward to starting at Solano Community College with hopes of someday becoming a probation officer.
To recognize the accomplishments of pregnant and parenting teens like Jones who overcame challenges and completed high school, the Shasta-Diablo Planned Parenthood held a graduation celebration Thursday at the Courtyard Marriott in Fairfield.
About 50 teens from Napa and Solano counties dined and danced at a combination graduation and prom night.
"Pregnant and parenting teens often don't get an opportunity to have a graduation or go to prom," said Tracy Nunley, director of communication services for Solano Planned Parenthood.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Women over 40 have more options for birth control - 04/05/08
(04-05) 04:00 PDT Atlanta --
Birth control choices are wider these days for women 40 and older - a group that once viewed its options as pretty much limited to tube-tying surgery and condoms.
For them, the Pill is back. So is the IUD. Both are safer than they used to be. There's even a nonsurgical method of tube-tying.
Traditionally, women 40 and older are the least likely to use birth control. Along with adolescents, they have the highest rates of abortion. At the same time, these women are more experienced at using contraception and follow instructions better.
When it comes to contraceptives for women 40 and older, "one size definitely does not fit all," said Dr. Vanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
A review of the current science of contraception and women 40 and older was published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. The author, University of Florida gynecologist Dr. Andrew Kaunitz, noted that the risk of dangerous blood clots rises sharply at age 40 for women who take birth control pills containing estrogen. The risk is even greater for overweight women, who also are more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes.
But the dosage of estrogen in current birth control pills has been dramatically reduced. The Pill is now considered a safe alternative for lean, healthy older women, Kaunitz and other experts said.
"It may not be well known that the current low-dose formulations are a reasonable option for healthy women in their 40s," said Dr. JoAnn Manson, a Harvard endocrinologist who wrote a book on menopausal hormone therapy.
The Pill may be preferable for some women, because it can help control irregular menstrual bleeding and hot flashes and has been shown to reduce hip fractures and ovarian cancer, wrote Kaunitz. He has received fees or grants from several companies that make oral contraceptives.
But middle-aged women who are obese, smoke, or have migraines, high blood pressure or certain other risk factors should be steered toward IUDs or progestin-only treatments like "mini-pills," experts said.
Higher breast cancer rates have been reported in older women who took estrogen-progestin pills for menopause. However, studies did not find an increased breast cancer risk in women 35 and older who took oral contraceptives.
The most common form of contraception for women 40 and older continues to be sterilization - a category that counts tubal ligations (tube-tying) in women as well as vasectomies in their male partners.
Increasingly, gynecologists are offering a newer type of tubal ligation that is nonsurgical. The procedure, called Essure, was approved by the government in 2002. Instead of cutting through the abdomen to cut and tie the fallopian tubes, a doctor works through the cervix, using a thin tube to thread small devices into each fallopian tube. These cause scarring, which in about three months plugs the tubes, stopping eggs from the ovaries from reaching the uterus.
Also relatively new is a product called Implanon, approved by the government in 2006. It's a matchstick-size plastic rod, placed under the skin of the upper arm, that is a more modern cousin of Norplant and can last about three years.
"Things have definitely changed. There are a lot more options for older women than there used to be," said Dr. Erika Banks, director of gynecology at New York City's Montefiore Medical Center.
Friday, April 4, 2008
HPV not just a threat to women - 04/02/08
While men are not typically at risk of dying or developing cancer after contracting the human papillomavirus, it is a sexually transmitted infection that demands some attention.
In 2008, about 11,070 U.S. women will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer, according to the American Cancer Society Web site.
"I think men are often left out of the HPV talk," said Devora Lomas, health educator for Planned Parenthood Shasta-Diablo.
HPV can not only lead to cervical cancer in women, but certain strains cause genital warts in both men and women, she said.
Lomas thinks both men and women are becoming more aware of what HPV is and the side effects, but there is still work to do, she said.
Sophomore R.J. Osborne remembers learning in high school that HPV can cause genital warts, he said. But most of his friends probably don't know what HPV is.
Because so many men and women in college have HPV, it's important for students to be informed and protect themselves, Osborne said.
"You have to wrap that shit up," he said.
But condoms aren't perfect.
Using condoms correctly can help decrease the spread of HPV, but a condom is only effective on the part of the penis that is covered, said Dr. Jeff Thomas, the Student Health Center's chief of clinical medicine.
HPV is spread through skin-to-skin contact, Thomas said. And because men can have warts not just on the penis, but in the areas above and surrounding the penis as well, condoms won't always protect against infection.
Most men and women who have HPV are not aware of it, which also contributes to the spread, he said. People usually go undiagnosed unless there are obvious signs, like external warts.
Warts can appear externally on the penis and surrounding areas, as well as both internally and externally on and around the anus and vagina, Thomas said. In extremely rare cases, usually in individuals with compromised immune systems, HPV infections can be oral.
In men with compromised immune systems, HPV can in rare cases cause penile and anal cancers, Thomas said. However, this usually occurs in men who have diseases such as HIV.
Most men and women with healthy immune systems will overcome HPV, and the infection will go away, he said. The problem is there are so many strands of HPV that it is easy to become infected again with a new sexual partner.
The Health Center saw 429 men and 641 women with genital warts from fall 2006 to spring 2007, Thomas said.
Sophomore Jesse Jansen didn't know what HPV was until he was interviewed. But he's glad he knows about it now, he said.
"They should make men more aware about HPV, just as much as with any other STD," Jansen said.
Thomas thinks most of his male patients who come in for STI exams or who are diagnosed with genital warts are knowledgeable about STIs and want to be informed, he said.
"But then again, I'm only seeing the students that come in," he said. "I don't know how much general knowledge there is out there in the student body."
Even though HPV in men is mostly manifested as genital warts, which typically go away, there is the potential of passing it to a partner, Thomas said.
It is a personal health issue for men just as much as it is a relationship issue, he said.
"It's showing a sign of respect for your partner to protect yourself and in the process protect your partner," Thomas said.
Gardasil, the same HPV vaccine available for women, is being tested on men by the Food and Drug Administration, Thomas said.
"You could come up with a good argument that since women get HPV from their partners, it would make sense if men were vaccinated, too," he said.
So far the trials are showing that Gardasil is just as effective on men as it is on women, he said. But whether the drug will be approved for men by the FDA is still up in the air.
The Health Center saw 18,011 students for STI screening tests from fall 2006 to spring 2007, Thomas said, who encourages students with questions or concerns about HPV and other STIs to visit the Health Center for more information.
"These are equal opportunity infections," Thomas said. "They don't care whether it's a man or a woman - both sexes can be infected."
Nicole Williams can be reached at
nwilliams@theorion.com
Both Planned Parenthood and the Student Health Center are resources for students who want STI screening, treatment or just have questions. Students can call the health center at 898-5241 or visit their site for further information.
In 2008, about 11,070 U.S. women will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer, according to the American Cancer Society Web site.
"I think men are often left out of the HPV talk," said Devora Lomas, health educator for Planned Parenthood Shasta-Diablo.
HPV can not only lead to cervical cancer in women, but certain strains cause genital warts in both men and women, she said.
Lomas thinks both men and women are becoming more aware of what HPV is and the side effects, but there is still work to do, she said.
Sophomore R.J. Osborne remembers learning in high school that HPV can cause genital warts, he said. But most of his friends probably don't know what HPV is.
Because so many men and women in college have HPV, it's important for students to be informed and protect themselves, Osborne said.
"You have to wrap that shit up," he said.
But condoms aren't perfect.
Using condoms correctly can help decrease the spread of HPV, but a condom is only effective on the part of the penis that is covered, said Dr. Jeff Thomas, the Student Health Center's chief of clinical medicine.
HPV is spread through skin-to-skin contact, Thomas said. And because men can have warts not just on the penis, but in the areas above and surrounding the penis as well, condoms won't always protect against infection.
Most men and women who have HPV are not aware of it, which also contributes to the spread, he said. People usually go undiagnosed unless there are obvious signs, like external warts.
Warts can appear externally on the penis and surrounding areas, as well as both internally and externally on and around the anus and vagina, Thomas said. In extremely rare cases, usually in individuals with compromised immune systems, HPV infections can be oral.
In men with compromised immune systems, HPV can in rare cases cause penile and anal cancers, Thomas said. However, this usually occurs in men who have diseases such as HIV.
Most men and women with healthy immune systems will overcome HPV, and the infection will go away, he said. The problem is there are so many strands of HPV that it is easy to become infected again with a new sexual partner.
The Health Center saw 429 men and 641 women with genital warts from fall 2006 to spring 2007, Thomas said.
Sophomore Jesse Jansen didn't know what HPV was until he was interviewed. But he's glad he knows about it now, he said.
"They should make men more aware about HPV, just as much as with any other STD," Jansen said.
Thomas thinks most of his male patients who come in for STI exams or who are diagnosed with genital warts are knowledgeable about STIs and want to be informed, he said.
"But then again, I'm only seeing the students that come in," he said. "I don't know how much general knowledge there is out there in the student body."
Even though HPV in men is mostly manifested as genital warts, which typically go away, there is the potential of passing it to a partner, Thomas said.
It is a personal health issue for men just as much as it is a relationship issue, he said.
"It's showing a sign of respect for your partner to protect yourself and in the process protect your partner," Thomas said.
Gardasil, the same HPV vaccine available for women, is being tested on men by the Food and Drug Administration, Thomas said.
"You could come up with a good argument that since women get HPV from their partners, it would make sense if men were vaccinated, too," he said.
So far the trials are showing that Gardasil is just as effective on men as it is on women, he said. But whether the drug will be approved for men by the FDA is still up in the air.
The Health Center saw 18,011 students for STI screening tests from fall 2006 to spring 2007, Thomas said, who encourages students with questions or concerns about HPV and other STIs to visit the Health Center for more information.
"These are equal opportunity infections," Thomas said. "They don't care whether it's a man or a woman - both sexes can be infected."
Nicole Williams can be reached at
nwilliams@theorion.com
Both Planned Parenthood and the Student Health Center are resources for students who want STI screening, treatment or just have questions. Students can call the health center at 898-5241 or visit their site for further information.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Planned Parenthood Celebrates 2008 “Back Up Your Birth Control”
Planned Parenthood Celebrates 2008 “Back Up Your Birth Control” Campaign Day of Action To Ensure Access to and Awareness of Emergency Contraception
Washington, DC — Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) today celebrates the 2008 Back Up Your Birth Control Campaign Day of Action to raise awareness of emergency contraception (EC), a safe and effective backup birth control option for women and teens. In honor of the Day of Action, Planned Parenthood launched a new YouTube video to highlight the availability of emergency contraception at Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers across the
“Emergency contraception is safe and effective, and Planned Parenthood is committed to making sure every woman and teen knows about this backup birth control option,” said PPFA President Cecile Richards. "Every woman deserves full access to every option available to prevent unintended pregnancy.”
EC lowers the risk of pregnancy when started within 120 hours of unprotected intercourse. The sooner backup birth control is taken, the better it works, making timely access critically important. Nevertheless, the FDA restricts young women's access to EC by requiring a prescription for EC for anyone under age 18.
“With as many as 750,000 teens becoming pregnant each year, it is time for all of us to take action and ensure our young people have information on and access to affordable birth control, including emergency contraception,” Richards said.
For more information about EC, please visit www.plannedparenthood.org.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Contra Costa Times: Alarming STD Rates - 3/17/08
Contra Costa Times
WHAT DOES IT SAY about a culture when one of every four girls between the ages of 14 and 19 has a sexually transmitted disease?
What does it say about that culture's failure to teach girls self-respect and self-esteem that makes them value themselves as something other than sexual objects?
That is what all Americans -- not just those with teen daughters -- should be asking in the wake of the shocking study released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC researchers found that out of a test sample of 800 girls, 25 percent tested positive for STDs. We're talking about trichomoniasis, genital herpes, chlamydia or the human papillomavirus.
One of two African-American teens had an STD, compared with 20 percent of whites and Latinos, respectively.
Proponents of expanding sex education in public schools say the CDC findings offer proof that we need to make condoms and birth control pills more readily available for teen girls in public schools.
Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of American, proclaimed, "The national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure, and teenage girls are paying the real price."
True, despite the Bush administration's suggestions to the contrary, abstinence-only programs don't work.
"Just say no" has little chance against a teen's raging hormones. We need real sex education classes in schools.
However, we also need to do more to discourage our girls, and boys, from having sex when they're not mature enough to take proper precautions or handle the consequences.
How do we get through to teens when everything in our culture encourages them to engage in dangerous, high-risk behavior?
We believe public health officials around the country must launch an aggressive public advertising campaign warning of the risk of STDs -- just as there has been a national effort to crack down on teen smoking.
Many teens are ignorant about the risks. Girls and boys need to be told, for instance, that they can become infected through oral sex as well as intercourse.
It is only through a steady bombardment of messages -- to counter the constant barrage of a sex-soaked culture -- that we can begin to change teen attitudes.
Many parents are in denial. No one wants to believe that their child has a venereal disease. These parents need to get a grip.
Nearly 3 million teen girls across the nation are believed to be carrying STDs, and many don't even know it.
Some STDs can damage a woman's reproductive organs and even cause cervical cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
Parents must have candid conversations with their children and make sure they have access to sex education in school. Their lives may depend on it.
WHAT DOES IT SAY about a culture when one of every four girls between the ages of 14 and 19 has a sexually transmitted disease?
What does it say about that culture's failure to teach girls self-respect and self-esteem that makes them value themselves as something other than sexual objects?
That is what all Americans -- not just those with teen daughters -- should be asking in the wake of the shocking study released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC researchers found that out of a test sample of 800 girls, 25 percent tested positive for STDs. We're talking about trichomoniasis, genital herpes, chlamydia or the human papillomavirus.
One of two African-American teens had an STD, compared with 20 percent of whites and Latinos, respectively.
Proponents of expanding sex education in public schools say the CDC findings offer proof that we need to make condoms and birth control pills more readily available for teen girls in public schools.
Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of American, proclaimed, "The national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure, and teenage girls are paying the real price."
True, despite the Bush administration's suggestions to the contrary, abstinence-only programs don't work.
"Just say no" has little chance against a teen's raging hormones. We need real sex education classes in schools.
However, we also need to do more to discourage our girls, and boys, from having sex when they're not mature enough to take proper precautions or handle the consequences.
How do we get through to teens when everything in our culture encourages them to engage in dangerous, high-risk behavior?
We believe public health officials around the country must launch an aggressive public advertising campaign warning of the risk of STDs -- just as there has been a national effort to crack down on teen smoking.
Many teens are ignorant about the risks. Girls and boys need to be told, for instance, that they can become infected through oral sex as well as intercourse.
It is only through a steady bombardment of messages -- to counter the constant barrage of a sex-soaked culture -- that we can begin to change teen attitudes.
Many parents are in denial. No one wants to believe that their child has a venereal disease. These parents need to get a grip.
Nearly 3 million teen girls across the nation are believed to be carrying STDs, and many don't even know it.
Some STDs can damage a woman's reproductive organs and even cause cervical cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
Parents must have candid conversations with their children and make sure they have access to sex education in school. Their lives may depend on it.
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