Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050058
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It might seem so, if society's only interest in the issue is that taxpayers usually are called on to help support poor teen-age mothers and the children they produce. More prosperous families usually can be expected to take care of their own.
Indeed, a teen mother from a middle- or upper-class family may be more likely - at her family's insistence - to receive prenatal care; receive more encouragement and help to complete her education; and, assuming the father also hails from a ``responsible'' family, to marry before the birth of the baby.
But parents of such teen-agers, especially those who look forward to eventually having healthy grandchildren, ought to take no comfort in their income status. Neither should the public conclude that teen pregnancy is not a serious problem for wealthier teens.
It's the age of the mother - not poverty - that seems likeliest to determine the health of the baby, a recent study shows. It may be the critical factor in whether the baby lives or dies.
The study, released last month, should help blow away the myth that only poor teens, from poorly educated families and from racial minorities, have babies that put a burden on society.
Babies of mothers between the ages of 13 and 17 are much more likely to be born prematurely and undersized than babies born to older women. Period. It has nothing to do with the mother's income status, race or even if she receives excellent medical care during her pregnancy.
Says Dr. Richard Ward, the study's senior author: ``Even if you could have every pregnant teen married, not poor, and get good prenatal care, you will still get bad results.''
Just why and how the age of the mother contributes to prematurity is unclear. But the reason, doctors and researchers suspect, may be that the pregnant adolescent's body - still growing and developing - competes with the growing fetus for nutrients.
This is important research, not just for its myth-busting potential, but because premature birth is the leading cause of newborn deaths.
Additionally, it's a well-established medical fact that low-birth-weight babies are much more likely to have serious health problems, even if they live.
With 13 percent of all the children born in the United States being born to teen-age mothers, it should not take a sociologist to figure out that all teen-age girls should be encouraged not to get pregnant - even if they are married.
It's become something of a cliche, but it's nonetheless true: Kids shouldn't be having kids.
by CNB