Teen mothers rise despite state trend

While Gloucester grapples with a surge in teen pregnancy, Haverhill is confronting a similar issue in its high school.

Nineteen girls at Haverhill High School were pregnant or gave birth during the last school year, about the same number as the prior school year.

Although the numbers didn't increase, they reflect a troubling trend of teen pregnancies at the 2,300-student school in recent years, officials said.

"The last two years I've noticed an increase," said Carol Ireland, coordinator of the school's Pregnant and Parenting Teen program. "When I first meet them, I ask them, 'Do you want to be pregnant? Most of them say 'No.' "

Superintendent Raleigh Buchanan thinks even one teen pregnancy is too many for the urban school district. "Just the idea that one girl is pregnant is important," said Buchanan, superintendent for the last two years. "We don't want kids having kids."

A sharp rise in teen pregnancy at the 1,200-student Gloucester High School, where 17 pregnancies were diagnosed during the last school year at the school's health clinic, has brought new scrutiny to adolescent sexuality. In Massachusetts, the teen birthrate dropped 2 percentage points from 2005 to 2006, according to the most recent statistics available from the state Department of Public Health.

But the rate went up in working-class cities. Of the 25 communities with the highest teen births - which the state defines as ages 15 to 19 - five are located north of Boston. Haverhill, a city of about 60,000, posted the highest percentage increase of the five communities - increasing 23.7 percent to 73 teen births in 2006, compared with 59 in 2005, the data show.

Elsewhere, Chelsea had a 5.3 percent increase and Everett 5.7 percent, while Lynn's rate remained nearly unchanged. Revere posted an 18 percent drop in teenage births, dropping to 39 in 2006 from 48 in 2005, according to the state.

Revere school and public health officials did not return calls seeking comment.

A state health official said the 2 percent drop in the state's overall rate is positive, but said rates for communities can vary widely, and are often hard to explain.

"Adolescent pregnancies are a complicated phenomenon," Dr. Lauren Smith , medical director at the state Department of Public Heath, said in a recent interview. "There are always going to be numerous factors that contribute to it."

In Haverhill, officials link at least some of the high pregnancy rate to a lack of resources for sex education. Steady rounds of budget cuts in recent years have forced the elimination of health education teachers at the city's four middle schools and one high school.

Health education, including instruction on hygiene and reproduction, now must be covered in gym class, Buchanan said.

"We cover it a little bit now in physical education," he said. "Our health department is very much down. We had to cut those teachers. We need to get those services back. Issues such as [teen pregnancy] are a good reason why."

Additionally, state funding for the Haverhill Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition, a community group, was eliminated several years ago, Ireland said.

"We need funding for a program like that, which focuses solely on pregnancy prevention," she said.

Haverhill High does not give out condoms or prescribe contraceptives to students, Ireland said.

Haverhill is also home to Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, which serves 13 communities in the Merrimack Valley. Superintendent Paul DeRosa, who started July 1, did not have data on the number of students who are pregnant or recently gave birth.

Haverhill High does not provide on-site day care for students who have babies. But a weekly support group offered for pregnant and parenting teens aims to keep students focused on school, while also teaching them about child development and other life skills.

"We do a piece on domestic violence," said Ireland, who has run the program for 16 years. "We're focused on breaking that cycle. Sadly, many girls have experienced it."

Of the 19 girls in the program last year, most were juniors, Ireland said. "The higher number is juniors, and some seniors," said Ireland, who noted seven students either graduated or left school at the end of the year, leaving 12 in the program for next year. "I have a couple of freshmen and sophomores."

Many stay in school, placing their babies with low-cost child-care providers in the city. Healthy Families, funded by the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund in Boston, provides home-based guidance to parenting teens.

Counselors are working with 35 adolescent parents in Haverhill. They range in age from two 14-year-old mothers to a 21-year-old mother.

The bulk, however, are girls ages 18 and 19, who had a total of 14 babies last year.

"That reflects pretty much what we see across the state," said Sarita Rogers, director of home visits for the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund.

"Better than half the teen mothers are ages 18 and over. That's pretty much how the births play out."

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com.