To the Editor:

The column that was written by Miranda Healey, “Teen mom program at R.D. Parker misses the mark,” in the Dec. 2 edition of the Thompson Citizen upset me for a number of reasons, and for that I decided to share my opinion.

I have worked at Babies’ Best Start at the YWCA for nine years now, and have loved every minute of every day. I have watched so many young women come through my office and have changed their lives for the better.

A baby in the mother’s uterus has the right to a healthy life and part of a healthy life is how well the mother takes care of herself and her body. Attending prenatal classes as a teen is not an easy task; they are young, scared, and wonder if you will judge them. I would say that one has great courage and strength at such a young age too seek out advice and gain the knowledge in order to have a healthy pregnancy. This is success to me!

This baby will have a great start all because his or her mother decided to gain the education that was needed to make sure of it, and doing so in a safe and familiar place is where they can absorb information best.

The reality is that teens are still scrutinized about being pregnant; these girls get stared at in the halls and sometimes the kids make comments to them.

While Healey believes that girls will feel that teen pregnancy is encouraged, I see the opposite effect happening, when the younger girls see the struggles faced every day: morning sickness, weight gain, mood swings, the boyfriend leaving them, then the baby comes and they have to take care of the baby bring him or her to class and try to do homework all at once.

I feel that you have missed what is really important. Prenatal is not just about labour and delivery; it covers a wide range of topics, such as smoking, drugs, alcohol, fetal growth, shaken baby syndrome, breastfeeding, first six months of life, nutrition and the list could go on and on. One who educates them self educates others! If you do your research other cities have been making education more accessible to teen moms for years and they also have daycare’s set up right on site. We are just catching up now. The reason for this change in our education system is because they discovered that offering this different way of obtaining an education has allowed girls to stay in school and move on to continue their education and get great paying jobs so they can support their family and in turn contributing to society.

Prenatal groups are during the lunch hour, on their own time. They make the choice to come. Other girls in the same situation who need each other for support who can understand the struggles they face and the harder ones still to come surround them. No matter what comes their way they will remember what they learned and use it, or call that one person they made that special connection with for help.

So you ask, why in the school? Why not in the school? School is a place for educating. Education should be easily accessible and endless. There is no limit on education; we put limits on ourselves. We have changed the life of not only one person but also the one who is going to come into this world with dreams. By supporting these young women and helping them get an education we make them stronger and more confident to further educate themselves.

Teen pregnancy has been around for many years and according to Statistics Canada teen pregnancy rates are down. Canadian pregnancy rates per 1,000 among the ages of 15 to 19 in 1992 were 48.1 per cent as opposed to 2002 at 33.9 per cent. In the end, the responsibility of teaching the teens to avoid pregnancy still falls in the parents’ hands, but for those who missed the message, Babies’ Best Start will continue to offer support to them and to all pregnant women giving the babies a better chance right from the start.

Tina Ehlbeck

Thompson