College age women decrease in pregnancy rate

The pregnancy rate for college age women is at an all time low. In 2016, the National Center for Health Statistics collected data that showed a significant decrease since the beginning of the study in 1990.

 

Females between the ages of 15-19 birth rates were reported at 20.3 per 1,000 females in 2016 compared to the 59.9 per 1,000 females in 1990.

A factor that may contribute to this decrease in pregnancy rates is the sexual education of youth in middle and high school. This knowledge of how to be sexual active safely is something that many young adults carry on with them into college.  

 

“I think he [sex education teacher] did an adequate job in teaching us,” said Patrick Husk a junior Public Health major on his sex education in high school. “He didn’t push abstinence. He taught like comprehensive sex education. Abstinence only teaching has shown to be not quite effective because people will still have sex. Regardless. If you teach them just not to but teach them how to be safe.”

The United States finds itself in the stone age of sex education.  Only 22 states mandate schools to teach our youth about reproductive health. And that knowledge is required in 13 of those 22 states to be taught by health educators to be “medically accurate”.

 

How can education be something that is stressed to be so important in schools but we fail to teach our youth about their own bodies? American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that 64 percent of American women when shown a diagram of the female reproductive system they could not identify the cervix.

 

Quebec province of Canada is one of those exceptions of the world. They begin sex and mistral education in schools as early as kindergarten. This impressionable age is right around when young children begin to get curious about their growing bodies. Children in Ontario even learn about what consent means by first grade.

 

“When people arrive at the college campus we can’t make assumptions about what they know or they don’t know,” said Cassandra Pegg-Kirby, Director of the Women’s Center. “And so I’ve been starting to feel like maybe we have a responsibility to work with health education and promotion to do some sort of health and well-being and incorporate some sex education.”

 

 

 

 

Cassandra Pegg-Kirby has been the Director of the Women’s Center at Kent State for six years. She has a background in work at shelters for domestic violence and sexual assault. She even did work in a group home for adolescent girls both in Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

 

However, the Trump administration announced back in April a shift in funding that would aim to teach abstinence for programs aimed at reducing pregnancy rates.

 

The funding announcement, which was issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), does not completely dismiss programs that teach youth information on contraception and protected sex. It  does encourage these same programs to emphasize abstinence or as they put it so eloquently,  “sexual risk avoidance.”

 

The announcement also mentioned an “emphasis on cessation support,” which can be interpreted as urging teens and young adults that are sexually active to stop having sex.

 

Both these phrases have caused mixed feelings in the sex education community. Andrea Kane, vice president of policy and strategic partnerships for Power to Decide, a national group that works to prevent unplanned pregnancies, told the New York Timesher thoughts on this legislative lingo.

 

“What’s noticeably absent in those things you must talk about is that if the young person continues having sex, here is the information you must have about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases,” said Kane. “They talk about skills to avoid sex and return to not having sex. It doesn’t really leave any opening for those young people who continue having sex and how we help them prepare for their future.”

 

 

Sex Education isn’t the only thing that may affect the decrease in birth rates among teens and young adults to rise again.

 

Currently most schools and universities offer students resources in ways to prevent pregnancy to help keep students safe and the rate low. Kent State is one of these schools that offer services and resources to its students.

 

“In terms of reproductive health those resources are available at the women’s clinic,” said Pegg-Kirby. “They have condoms and things in the lobby and health promotions through the health center. We offer through the Women’s Center based on what response they get off that pregnancy test they want to come and talk to us. We certainly can help so they don’t have to navigate that by themselves.”

 

The Women’s Center was established in 1996 as a place to support not only students but also faculty and staff through education about women, gender, and diversity.

 

When a student comes to the center they help lay out all the options and resources they may need.

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“Whatever their network of support may be so oftentimes when I see people it’s people who don’t have anyone else to turn to,” said Cassandra Pegg-Kirby.

The Women’s Center offers resources for students who are or expecting mothers.  The Student Ombudsis an organization on Kent States campus. They assist students during pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and post-pregnancy in understanding institutional policies and procedures and facilitating communication regarding academic concerns.  

For students who are already mothers and looking to balance motherhood and academics Kent State and the surrounding community offer some resources as well. The Child Developing Centeroffers daycare; lactation roomsare located in buildings on not only main but also regional campuses.

The Coleman Pregnancy Center offers support with educational programs and material goods such as diapers while La Leche League of Kentsupports moms in all stages of motherhood with encouragement, information and education.

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On the Women’s Center website you can find the link to a webpage that helps you locate free clinics near you that offer free or affordable forms of birth control.

 

https://www.bedsider.org/where_to_get_it

 

Planned Parenthood, located in downtown Kent, is one of these establishments that offer students free or affordable birth control methods. It also provides students with emergency contraception also known as the morning-after pill and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) testing.

 

 

The day after the midterm elections the Trump administration released its final rules in a yearlong battle involving the Affordable Care Actor more commonly known as Obamacare.

 

The Act, spearheaded by President Barack Obama and enacted into law in March 2010, has three main goals, which can be found on HealthCare.gov:

• Make affordable health insurance a reality to more people
• For adults with income below the federal poverty level expand the Medicaid program to cover them
• Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally

 

These “final rules” allow companies or organizations to opt out of providing health insurance that would cover birth control for its employees.

 

https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2017-21851.pdf

 

Places like the Planned Parenthood in Kent are affected by the Trump administration as well. In 2016 President Trump announced a cut government funding of Planned Parenthood and other places that perform abortions.

 

 

“I would defund it because I’m pro-life, but millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood,” said President Donald Trump in February 2016 at a debate held by CNN.

 

 

Only 3 percent of Planned Parenthoods services are abortions. This cut is hurting more women than helping. The organization advocates for women health through not only sexual health but also by offering gynecological exams, colposcopy, cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment and it even services men.

 

“We often don’t bring into the conversation is socioeconomics,” said Pegg-Kirby.“And so Planned Parenthood has advocated for awareness of equity and access and resources across that socio economic spectrum.”

 

All of these factors put sexually active teens and young adults at risk for pregnancy and spreading of STIs. It won’t be until legislation makes a change that the statistics will change as well.