THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603280148
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
At first, Suzanne Williams hesitated to take the artificial fetus from its snug womb.
Twice she extended her arm, then drew it back, before plucking the courage to wrap her fingers gently around the rubber fetus' doubled-up body and lift it slowly from the halved uterine model it was cradled in. Her eyes opened wide in amazement, and her mouth formed an ``O.''
``My baby is bigger than this!'' she exclaimed after raising it to eye level. She held the curled fetus in the palm of her hand, then lowered it close to her swollen abdomen. ``See?'' she said to three other pregnant girls watching.
``It's not the baby that grew so much - it's you,'' said Maryellen Browne, director of the Virginia Beach Better Beginnings Coalition.
Williams is a 19-year-old student at the Princess Anne Center, a public alternative school for pregnant teens. The fetus she carries is just slightly larger than the model, since she will reach the eighth month of her pregnancy in early April, while the replica represents the size and developmental stage of a seven-month fetus.
Once Williams had broken the ice, other students reached out eager hands to pick up even tinier mock fetuses. Favored for handling were the 5-month twins.
The mannequins were among nine the coalition donated Monday to the school in the hope that teens who will soon give birth will get a better understanding of their unborn babies by seeing them in three dimensions and handling them.
``Look at this little foot,'' exclaimed one girl, turning a 2-month model over and over in her hands.
``Here's the umbilical cord,'' pointed out JoAnn Andrews, work and family studies instructor at the center.
Cost of the fetal models was $680, but members of the coalition said that it is a small price to pay to help instill these pregnant teens with a clearer understanding of how their unborn babies grow and develop.
Joan Smith, who chairs the coalition and does volunteer teaching at the center, defines the coalition-center goal as ``trying to prevent teen pregnancy and help those who are already pregnant.'' She has focused on teen pregnancy as a graduate nursing student at Old Dominion University.
Coalition director Browne coordinates a mentoring project that matches up expectant teens with seasoned mothers. Resource Mothers of Virginia Beach, like the coalition, is a public-private partnership.
The Princess Anne Center currently serves about 50 students from schools throughout the city. Tom Gustafson, program coordinator at the center, encourages guidance counselors in middle and high schools to refer pregnant teens.
Of course, not all pregnant teenagers choose to attend the center, but stay in their home schools. And pregnant elementary school students are ineligible, since they are required to receive homebound instruction during their pregnancies.
Each school year, about 150 pregnant teens continue their studies at the center, which is located in portable classrooms between Princess Anne High School and Thalia Lynn Baptist Church on Virginia Beach Boulevard. The small setting offers the students safety and resources they need during pregnancy and after the birth of their babies, Andrews said. The girls also learn about birth control and adoption options.
Another expensive item on the coalition's wish list is a doll that can be programmed to behave in a number of ways typical of newborns to help train pregnant teens to be better nurturers.
And Andrews would like to see an infant care program at the center to encourage these at-risk teens to finish their educations. MEMO: For more information, call the center at 519-9988.
JUST THE FACTS
PREGNANCY RATES \ Percentage of girls aged 15 to 19 who became
pregnant:
1991 - 8.4 percent statewide; 8.7 percent in Virginia Beach
1993 - 7.4 percent statewide; 7.1 percent in Virginia Beach
1994 - 7.4 percent statewide; 7.4 percent in Virginia Beach
BIRTHS/ABORTIONS
Number of live births and abortions for girls aged 15 to 19:
1991 - 10,864 live births and 6,500 abortions statewide; 656 live
births and 423 abortions in Virginia Beach
1994 - 10,417 live births and 5,201 abortions statewide; 669 live
births and 365 abortions in Virginia Beach
Source: Center for Health Statistics in Richmond ILLUSTRATION: Photos by NANCY LEWIS
Students get hands-on learning about caring for their babies.
JoAnn Andrews arranges artificial fetuses at the Princess Anne
Center.
by CNB