ABSTRACTS OF FEATURE ARTICLES

Teen Parents: Straddling the Worlds of Adolescence and Parenthood
by Jeanne Warren Lindsay
This article details the many challenges facing teens who are entering parenthood. The author discusses the special needs of adolescents, breastfeeding and the teen mother, and building rapport with teens. She includes many comments from teens who describe their experiences as new parents.
To download and view this article (in pdf format), click here.

Developing a Teen Prenatal Series That Works
by Arden Atkinson and Susan Hagfor
As the needs of adolescent parents in the community changed, the Expectant Parents Organization of Lansing, Michigan, USA, realized that a new approach was needed for prenatal classes. Teen mothers had traditionally been enrolled in the Single Mothers Series, a female-only class. However, more and more teen mothers wanted to attend class with the fathers of their babies. Placing teen couples in the basic Prenatal Series did not work well. Teens in class with adult couples seemed intimidated. They did not participate in discussions or ask questions and often did not return after the first or second class. This article describes how, through researching ICEA materials, brainstorming, and looking at audio-visual materials already available, the Expectant Parents Organization developed a wide variety of activities to improve their teen prenatal program.

Teens and Breastfeeding at New Futures School
by Toni Berg and Yolanda Jaramillo
This article describes New Futures School, an internationally known and recognized model program for pregnant and parenting teenagers in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Its breastfeeding education program is discussed, and numerous teaching methods are listed.

Birth/Parents Companions Make a Difference
by Susan Sager and Gillian Sippert
Two companion programs designed to offer support to young, single parents living in challenging circumstances are described in this article. The function and goals of the Birth Companion Program and the Parent Companion Program are discussed. The article describes the recruitment, selection, and training of volunteers and how the volunteers are matched with the young women in the program.

Teens and Breastfeeding
by Maureen Kennedy
Teaching adolescents about breastfeeding presents the health care provider with some challenges. This article discusses how the influences of the peer group need to be taken into consideration as well as those concerns that are typical to teen mothers, such as their personal mobility, physical appearance, and modesty when breastfeeding in public. The impact of a history of sexual abuse on breastfeeding outcome is reviewed. Tips for teaching adolescents are also given.

Men Run Marathons Because They Can't Give Birth
by Jo-Anne Lacroix-Campling
After giving birth to three children and running her first marathon at the age of forty, the author discusses the many similarities between pregnancy and birth and training for and running a marathon. Psychological and physical preparations for the two events aas well as a step-by-step comparison of the stage of labor and the specific kilometers of the marathon are outlined. Important lessons learned from giving birth and running a marathon are also highlighted.

A New Twist on an Enduring Passion
by Renee Crevelli-Gross
In this article, the author describes how she designed and implemented a Fetal Development and Birth Program for sixth graders. She describes the process of obtaining funding for the program from a local hospital and the local school district. How she used adult learning theory and the six elements of curriculum development to design the program is also detailed.

Let's Talk About Breastfeeding
by Robyn Alezanders Sinkaus
"Let's Talk About Breastfeeding" is an open letter to family members, expecially grandparents, who may have overlooked the benefits of this important decision in nutrition and become uncomfortable with the intimacies involved. Misconceptions about breastfeeding, the benefits of nursing, and how the family can support the breastfeeding mother and baby are discussed.

Marketing Your Childbirth Class
by Karen E. Wallace
The author discusses the need for targeted marketing to increase the number of students in independent childbirth classes. She describes the best ways to entice pregnant women to attend classes including networking, publicizing, advertising, and word-of-mouth. A determination of what marketing method has been the most successful for the individual childbirth educator is also discussed.

COLUMNS

Resources
by Linda Uhrich
Teens

Information Update
by Grace La Torra
Physical abuse, social support, self-care, and pregnancy outcomes of older adolescents, relations to life situations and caretaking behaviors prenatally and two years postpartum, and exploratory analysis of factors associated with teens' repeated childbearing

Audio Visual Review
by Margery Simchak
TEEN BREASTFEEDING: THE NATURAL CHOICE; Volume One: Why Breastfeed? Volume Two: Starting Out Right

Statistics
by Dale King
Risk and Assisted Delivery

Healthy Lifestyles
by Ana Lopez-Dawson
Teen Pregnancy: Babies Having Babies

Political Issues
by Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam
Teen Pregnancy: Reframing the Question