Teen pregnancy has declined due to stagnating sexual activity rates and increases in contraceptive use. Still, between 800,000 and 900,000 adolescents become pregnant each year in America. Many who become parents during adolescence are unable to achieve positive health, economic, and social well-being outcomes, particularly around educational…

Pregnant women and women who might become pregnant, including middle school- and high school-age adolescents, continue to consume alcohol, placing themselves at risk of having a child with the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. However, most prevention programs that attempt to increase public awareness and knowledge of FAS and related disorders…

The last decades, an increasing literature on prenatal influences on child behaviour, including temperament, has emerged. This review will give an overview of animal and human studies that have focused specifically on the relation between prenatal stress exposure and offspring behaviour or temperament in early life. The concept and assessment of…

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a home visiting program modeled after Healthy Families America on parenting behaviors in the first 2 years of life. Methods: A sample of 1173 families at risk for child abuse and neglect who met the criteria for Healthy Families New York (HFNY) was randomly assigned to either an intervention group that was…

This fact sheet uses a question-and-answer format to summarize issues related to the prevention of neural tube defects. Questions and answers address the following topics: what neural tube defects are and the most common types (spina bifida and anencephaly); occurrence of neural tube defects during the first month of pregnancy; the frequency of…

This publication seeks to explain the many facets of adolescent abortion: teenagers' need for access to safe abortion; the need for confidentiality in order to ensure safety; the real intent and effect of parental involvement laws; and the roles of parents and the state in safeguarding the health of pregnant teenagers. The first section looks at…

Wisconsin legislation on adolescent pregnancy prevention is discussed in this document. The 1991 Senate Bill 324 and Assembly Bill 630, identical bills which relate to adolescent pregnancy prevention, school district instruction in human growth and development, medical assistance services, and making appropriations, are discussed. Part I notes…

Adolescent childbearing has historically been a relatively frequent phenomenon in Mexico and has only recently begun to decline. This study was designed to identify to what extent urban Mexican adolescents, who became pregnant out-of-wedlock and who carried their pregnancy to term, received social support during pregnancy and their emotional…

This brochure addresses the problem of gestational diabetes and answers the most frequently asked questions about the disease. It begins by defining gestational diabetes and discussing its cause, then addresses such topics as: (1) how gestational diabetes differs from other types of diabetes; (2) who is at risk for developing gestational diabetes…

This survey analyzed the nature and level of services in adolescent pregnancy prevention in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. While focusing on programs to prevent adolescent pregnancy, many of the groups surveyed were also responding to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in their work with youth.…

This memo is an update of a previous memo to the Special Committee on Teenage Pregnancy Prevention and Related Issues. It lists the suggestions that have been submitted by Committee members to staff as of February 21, 1991; and includes suggestions made since the January 24, 1991 meeting of the Special Committee. The suggestions are broken down…

Evaluated were two techniques (the conventional method and the new transcutaneous method) of measuring arterial oxygen tension in 20 severely ill preterm and term infants and in 70 healthy infants. (Author/CL)

The basic concept emphasized in this book is that a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach within a regionalized system of perinatal care is a constant factor improving the quality of pregancy outcomes. This coordinated multidisciplinary approach has had an impact on perinatal care in three important areas: (1) improved and expanded understanding…

A child care agency located in the southeastern United States serving homeless youth up to the age of 21 years provided pregnant and parenting teenagers with shelter and support services and provided individual and group counseling sessions focusing on health and nutrition, parenting and child care, sexuality and pregnancy, family support services…

A study examined the types and amounts of information expectant mothers need during their pregnancy, as well as their satisfaction with their physicians. Seventy women who had given birth within the previous 4 years completed a questionnaire eliciting information they received during pregnancy, their satisfaction with their physician, and…