Teen pregnancy is a growing concern in the St. Albert area, with more teens finding themselves in the delivery room.
According to the most recent data from Alberta Health Services (AHS) compiled in 2010, 6.9 per cent of St. Albert teens between 15 and 19 years old were pregnant, up from 4.5 per cent in 2007. In Sturgeon County, the percentage was 13.5, down slightly from 13.9 in 2007.
“There is a significantly higher teen birth rate in Sturgeon County than in St. Albert,” said the St. Albert and Sturgeon Primary Care Network’s 2009-12 Business Plan. “It has been noted that rural populations appear to have higher rates in certain health indices and higher utilization rates due, in part, to lack of access to services in rural communities.”
The plan cited a gap in addressing the rate of teen pregnancies in Sturgeon County and endeavoured to partner with AHS to create an awareness and education strategy.
Maureen Ligtvoet, Family Support Program manager with the St. Albert Family Resource Centre, said more teens are utilizing the programs offered at the centre. Nine teenagers are currently receiving assistance for pregnancy.
Individuals residing within city limits are eligible for the programs offered at the centre and Ligtvoet said the number of teens using the services would be higher if more teens could afford to stay in the city.
“A lot of them have moved to Edmonton because the cost of accommodations, which is a shame because this is their community,” she said. “We want these young ones to have the support that they need.”
The main contributing factors to pregnancy that Ligtvoet reports is a lack of education and support.
“When we did our focus group three years ago, the teens we had in our program who were pregnant shared that they were brought up in a single-parented home raised by their moms,” she said, adding they were more eager to seek male relationships.
She said another hurdle facing many of the teens was access to birth control and accurate information surrounding various birth control methods.
The programs offered at the family resource centre include a free prenatal class and one-on-one sessions for pre- and post-pregnancy assistance.
“We make sure that they have pre-natal vitamins, if they are low-income and struggling financially, we will give them milk coupons and we basically support them and educate them every week so that they know what’s going on within their pregnancy,” Ligtvoet said.
