Parenthood isn't easy, but teen parenthood comes with a unique set of issues. Antoinette Hoard, Early Head Start director at the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana, says that teen parents can go on to live productive lives after giving birth and the Children's Coalition is a community resource that can help.

On the impact of teen pregnancy on early childhood development and the effects that teen pregnancy could have on the growth and development of babies
With babies born to teens we are looking at some developmental delays that could possibly be there and some medical risks that can happen. There are a lot of risk factors that can happen in teens that may not happen in a person who is older. 

On the things that society/community can do to prevent some of those delays
To encourage the teen to get the medical attention she needs, and also to encourage the teen that she can continue her life. She can continue to be a better person in society. She can still get her education. She can do all the things she wanted to do even though she’s pregnant. We just have to encourage them, help network, and connect them to the services that they need. 

On successful teen parenting through dedication and  community resources
One teen that we had got pregnant her senior year in high school. During her senior year, she gave up and got connected to our programs through her counselor at her school. She ended up graduating with a 3.0 and she decided to go to ULM. Now, she’s in the Nursing Program at ULM. We’re excited that she was connected to our program and she was able to get her child in our Early Head Start Program and continue her education. 

On resources that are available to teen moms in order to develop practical skills in parenting
We need practice as adults, too, but we have lots of things going on at the Children’s Coalition with them. Of course, we have our Early Head Start program where she can bring her child to her program and we will provide care for them. We have a home-based program where we can come out to her home and work with her. We also have our Jus4Me Program that goes out to area high schools and works with teens to connect them to all the services that they need. There are also other places that she can go such as: Nurse-Family Partnership, AETNA, and other programs in the community that can meet their needs. The Children’s Coalition also provides parenting programs. 
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Time to Talk is produced with the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana and BayouLife Magazine.

Although teen pregnancy rates are declining, Louisiana still ranks 44th in the nation. Parishes in Northeast Louisiana are among the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state.  Linda Hunt, nurse clinical case manager for AETNA Better Health, discusses common misconceptions about teen mothers and how they can manage their health throughout their pregnancies. 

On the changes in teen pregnancy data in Louisiana and potential health risks
The state of Louisiana is saying that teen pregnancy rates are going down slowly. Louisiana is ranked 44th nationally. That means that there are only six states that have more teen pregnancies than Louisiana. Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, and Union parishes are some of the highest parishes in teen pregnancy rates.

Teens who become pregnant have a higher risk for medical complications. Complications such as: pre-eclampsia, hypertension, severe anemia, and pre-term birth. All of those things can have a lot of complications for the teen and their baby. It’s always a good thing – if they can – to get to a provider in the first trimester.  Even with high blood pressure, if they catch it early, doctors can prescribe medication unless its something more serious. They just watch teen pregnancies more closely from the beginning – that’s why it’s so important.

On the most common misconceptions about teen pregnancy and resources for teen parents
Three misconceptions are: that they cannot continue their education after having a baby, that they’ve ruined their lives forever, and that they cannot be good mothers. They’re all false. They can all continue their education and they don’t ruin their lives. They can still go on to and be whatever they want to be. A lot of teen mothers are really good mothers. Age doesn’t make a difference.    

Get to the doctors early and education. Education of the complications that they might have and the signs and symptoms of those. That’s what we do in case management. We make sure that they understand what the complications are and when they should call the doctor or go to the hospital.

Time to Talk is produced with the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana and BayouLife Magazine.

MONROE, La. (KNOE 8 News) – The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana announced the results of a program that supports teen parents and improves pregnancy outcomes.

In 2015, UnitedHealthcare donated $50,000 to the Coalition to support a weekly online resource for pregnant teens and teen parents called “Nurturing Skills for Teen Parents.” 

The program is part of the Jus4Me website, available to students at middle schools and high schools Ouachita, Union, Madison and Morehouse parishes.

Among teen parents and expectant mothers who participated in the program in 2015 and 2016, all babies born to program participants were of healthy birth weight, with an average of 7 pounds. Also:
52 teen parents (48 mothers and 4 fathers) improved their parenting skills through weekly classes held at six school sites in four parishes during the 2015-2016 school year;
97 percent of teen mothers in the program continued school during and after their pregnancy;
89 percent of teen mothers at sites with the school-based health centers used the health and referral services regularly; 
20 percent of teen mothers at sites with school-based health centers enrolled in home visiting support. (Nurse Family Partnerships)

Allison Young, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana, shared the program results during a presentation at Carroll High School in Monroe. Guests and community leaders attended the event to hear first-hand the program’s positive impact on the community.

Jus4Me supports pregnant teens and teen parents, and improves teen pregnancy outcomes, through various initiatives and resources including weekly 50-minute evidence-based parenting sessions at school sites for pregnant teens and teen parents during the school year, and partnerships with School-Based Health Centers, local nonprofits and school staffs to develop policies and enhance access to health and educational services for pregnant teens and teen parents.

“Working together with our school and community partners, we were able to make significant contributions to improving pregnancy health among 100 percent of local participating teens by fostering shifts in attitudes, knowledge and behaviors that contribute to healthy pregnancy outcomes,” said Lynn Clark, executive director, Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana. “We thank UnitedHealthcare for supporting the important work that Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana has done and will continue to do to help teen parents and address pre-term births in the state.”

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 15 percent of Louisiana’s babies are born before term, the second-highest rate in the nation, compared to the national average of 11.5 percent. Babies born before term are at a higher risk of developing health complications that can adversely affect vision, hearing, heart rate, blood health, immune systems and breathing. Due to the efforts of the Children’s Coalition of Northeast Louisiana and the Jus4Me program, the number of preterm births to teens is beginning to decrease.

“Through Jus4Me, the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana is providing teens with evidence-based programming that improves pregnancy outcomes and the system that supports them,” said Young. “Organizations like the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana are addressing this issue to improve the health of young women and their babies, particularly in Northeast Louisiana where preterm births are highest. UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to support Jus4Me to provide local teens with a valuable resource that will improve pregnancy outcomes.” 

National data suggest that teen pregnancy among youth ages 10 to 14 is on the rise. Babies born to teens younger than 15 are more than twice as likely to be low birth weight because of the increased stigma around younger pregnant teens, which often discourages them from seeking prenatal care. Local data suggest that these younger teens are more likely to have repeat births. A survey administered as part of 2015-2016 programs in Ouachita, Madison and Union parishes showed that more than half of teen parents in the program who had more than one child already were first pregnant in middle school.

The UnitedHealthcare Community Grants Program offers free expert guidance to help organizations make their funding efforts more effective. For more information, visit www.uhccommunitygrants.com.
UnitedHealthcare serves nearly 875,000 people in Louisiana with a network of 164 hospitals and more than 17,000 physicians and other care providers statewide.
About The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana
The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana is a membership-based 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to creating communities where children and families thrive. We address the needs of children and youth ages 0-18 in four main areas: Early Care and Education, Healthy Living, Parent Education and Youth Development. The need for an organization that could quickly move between and work within other non-profits to meet community needs was first identified in 1998 at a regional Summit on Youth. There was a clear recognition of how much stronger our communities would be if organizations collaborated and became partners in solving and meeting the needs of children. The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana came into being as a result of this visionary thinking. In addition to several state and federal programs that support children and families in our region, the Coalition is the Early Head Start awardee for Ouachita Parish, the Family Resource Center for Region 8 and the Child Care Resource and Referral for Region 9.

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.

MONROE, La (KNOE 8 News)- One organization is taking great strides to help reduce the number of teen pregnancies and help support teen parents. 
UnitedHealthcare presented a $50,000 check to the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana. 
Northeast Louisiana has one of the highest teen birth rates of 55.6 births per one thousand teens. 
The grant will help improve teen pregnancy outcomes and give those who are pregnant a resource to be better educated. 
"Well one of the missions of United Healthcare is to help people live healthier lives and as we did our research we are not just a medicaid provider we actually look for areas of need in the state where we can actually improve health outcomes," says Dr. Ann Kay Logarbo, chief medical officer of UnitedHealthcare. 
"This check will help us continue our efforts with parent education and strategies for young mothers and we have an evidence based program that we use on all of our services, nurturing families and triple P is one of the curriculums with use with girls," says Gatha Green, parent education director for Children's Coalition of Northeast Louisiana.

The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana on Wednesday received a $50,000 community grant from UnitedHealthcare to help support teen parents and improve pregnancy outcomes for Louisiana teens.
The grant will help improve teen pregnancy outcomes through the school site, Jus4Me, which places the evidence-based “Nurturing Skills for Teen Parents” at the heart of a weekly site-based program for pregnant teens and teen parents.
The project will serve pregnant teens in Ouachita, Union and Madison parishes, and will be located in four high schools.
UnitedHealthcare representatives gave the grant funding to the Children’s Coalition on Wednesday during a ceremony at Carroll High School.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 15 percent of Louisiana’s babies are born before term, the second-highest rate in the nation compared to the national average of 11.5 percent. Babies born before term are at a higher risk of developing health complications that can adversely affect vision, hearing, heart rate, blood health, immune systems and breathing.
Northeastern Louisiana has a teen birth rate of 55.6 teen births per 1,000 teens, more than twice the national average teen birth rate of 26.6 per 1,000.
In Union Parish, the growing Hispanic population has a birth rate of 98 per 1,000, almost five times the state average. Repeat births for teens in Union Parish are some of the highest in the region at 20 percent. The teen birth rate in Ouachita Parish is 57.8 per 1,000, and 50 per 1,000 in Madison Parish.
The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana is a membership-based nonprofit organization dedicated to creating communities where children and families thrive. It addresses the needs of children and youth ages 0-18 in four main areas: early care and education, healthy living, parent education and youth development.