The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

October 22, 2009

County has 2nd highest teen pregnancy rate

Stith: Increase from 2007 to 2008 coincides with drop in state funding

T. J. ROYAL

One area non-profit director says that her organization losing funding for the past two years has had an effect on Edgecombe County's increased teenage pregnancy rate.

Among teenagers ages 15-19, there were 35 more pregnancies recorded in 2008 than 2007, according to the State Center for Health Statistics; 201 compared to 166. That increase resulted in Edgecombe having the second-highest teenage pregnancy rate in the state in 2008, with a 110.8 pregnancy rate for every 1,000 girls ages 15-19. Tyrrell County had the lone higher rate than Edgecombe last year.

Community Enrichment Organization Director Doris Stith said the pregnancy rate increase has coincided with her agency missing out on $150,000 in state funding for the past two years. The competitive grant-writing process did not yield a $75,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in 2007 or 2008, Stith said. With that money, CEO is able to provide "direct services," such as after-school counseling to girls in grades 6-12, she added.

With a successful grant application to DHHS this year, Stith said CEO will be able to counsel girls in after-school courses this academic year. Along with teaching them about effective birth control methods, Stith said she and another CEO employee "talk (to the students) about making choices, making choices towards their future" and resisting pressure from their peers to engage in sexual activity.

The groups, which meet from 3-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, help teach students more about their bodies, and that "it is very OK to say no" to peer pressure when it comes to sex, she said. "And we encourage them to say a strong no."

The Down East Partnership for Children also funds the Teen Parent Support Group offered by CEO, which Stith said this year is helping 20 teenage mothers to complete high school, and to prevent them from having a repeat pregnancy. The Center for Health Statistics said that 61 of Edgecombe's 201 pregnancies in 2008 were repeats for the expecting teens.

This spring, all six seniors who participated in the Support Group graduated, and in 2008, all four seniors in the group also graduated, Stith said.

"The ones we work with do not drop out of school," she said.

The Edgecombe County Health Department also offers several different services for expecting women and mothers. Those include the Women Infant Children (WIC) nutrition and food voucher program, Baby Love and Baby Love Plus, which reach out to pregnant women in the community so they can receive pre-natal health care, as well as pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease testing, and birth control products like medication and condoms, as well as classes on how they are used.

With the increased number of pregnancies and births in Edgecombe last year, Stith emphasized that residents in the community must "deal with it head-on," to help young women avoid becoming pregnant at a young age.

Statewide, there were 19,398 pregnancies among teenagers ages 15-19 in 2008, 217 fewer than in 2007.

The state's teen pregnancy rate stood at 58.6 pregnancies per 1,000 girls ages 15-19. The pregnancy rate for white girls was 47.8, and the minority rate at 77.7.

In Edgecombe, the rate for white teens was 78.1, and for minorities at 123.8. Forty two white teenagers became pregnant in Edgecombe last year, compared to 158 minorities.

Text Only
Local News
  • Car burglars arrested

    A Tarboro man has been arrested and charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor by the Tarboro Police Department detectives division after he allegedly stole GPS systems from two separate vehicle.

    May 25, 2012

  • Historic Albemarle Tour a benefit to area communities

    Even though the price of gas has dropped significantly over the past several weeks, the fact it climbed to nearly $4 per gallon had a significant impact on the budgets of many people.

    May 25, 2012

  • NOAA: Less active season

    Six-weeks after storm researchers from Colorado State University suggested the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season will be less active than normal, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) agrees — more or less.

    May 25, 2012

  • Perdue’s Budget would aid ECPS

    Despite her lame-duck status and a General Assembly controlled by the opposing party, Gov. Bev Perdue’s 2012-2013 budget, unveiled this past week, calls for a net increase of more than $562 million in K-12 school funding over what is currently planned for next year.

    May 25, 2012

  • ECPS students chosen for 2012 governor’s school

    Two 11th-grade students from Edgecombe County Public Schools have been chosen to attend North Carolina Governor’s School this summer.

    May 25, 2012

  • DAR Micajah Pettaway Chapter sees fashions and styles of Jackie Kennedy Onasis

    The DAR Micajah Pettaway Chapter met 11:00 a. m., Thursday, May 17 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.  After Frankie Powell, First Vice Regent, welcomed everyone, she introduced new members Mary Ann Crawford, Angela Urquhart and prospective member Jaiann Rains from Rocky Mount.

    May 24, 2012

  • Civitas Poll: Parents primed for school reform

    If legislators listen to their constituents, school reform in North Carolina will happen.
    In a new poll released Wednesday by the Civitas Institute, results indicate that by large margins North Carolinians support a wide range of school reforms now before the state legislature.

    May 24, 2012

  • Edgecombe health stats spiral down

    In 2011, there were 12,164 premature deaths in Edgecombe County, according to a 2012 report compiled by County Health Rankings & Roadmaps.
    In the same report, it was noted that 1,167 county citizens were treated for a sexually transmitted infection. In the same report, North Carolina averaged 445 and the national benchmark was 84.

    May 24, 2012

  • Americans will remember fallen Monday

    On Monday, Americans honor the fallen men and women who have served our country through the military with the annual observance of Memorial Day.

    May 24, 2012

  • CORRECTION

    In a story titled “School board approves Roberson revisions” that appeared in the Thursday, May 17 edition, there were numerous errors. The story was written about the May 14 meeting of the Edgecombe County School Board.

    May 23, 2012