Teen pregnancy continues to be an issue affecting youth in St. Louis. Missouri Information for Community Assessment (MICA) data reports that the teen pregnancy rate among 15 to 19-year-olds is higher in St. Louis city than county by over 50 percent. And, the infant mortality rate is 50 percent higher for teen mothers, along with other adverse birth outcomes.
To respond to these growing statistics, Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) funded an effort led by Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club to tackle infant mortality through the Healthy Babies, Children & Families Program. Matthews-Dickey leads this program in collaboration with Grand Center Arts Academy, Girls, Inc., Teen Pregnancy and Prevention Partnership, and the Brown School Evaluation Center at Washington University.
The grant, awarded in 2015, has allowed this cross-agency initiative to inform FLOURISH St. Louis’ prenatal care priorities by providing input on preconception and sexual health for youth and families. Many of these services were developed through a youth-led health advocacy model geared toward improving infant vitality.
Mathews-Dickey embraced this advocacy model for all their programs funded by the grant. “We wanted to make sure our youth have a voice when it comes to their bodies,” commented Sheleia Phillips, health and outcomes coordinator with Mathews-Dickey. “All of our efforts were developed and executed by our youth.”
The partner agencies formed the Ambassadors of Health program, a youth-led group serving as change agents for health issues in their communities. The agencies provided training and outreach opportunities for these dedicated youths ages 12 to 18. From there, the Ambassadors helped develop teenhealthstl.org, a pregnancy and sexual health resource for teens. The youth leaders also traveled to Jefferson City to meet with policymakers about health issues, and advised on the best way to reach their peers through social media.
The Brown School Evaluation Center is helping to collect, analyze and interpret data to measure the program’s impact and to provide valuable results to Missouri Foundation for Health, FLOURISH St. Louis and the community.
“Our collaborative efforts have set a good example of the power of collective impact in addressing infant vitality,” said Phillips. “This grant fostered strong partnerships that will continue to benefit our community in the future.”
This initiative is one of many that has been funded by Missouri Foundation for Health on behalf of FLOURISH St. Louis. If you are interested in helping to address teen pregnancy prevention and overall pregnancy care in St. Louis, you can join the Prenatal Care Action Team.
