Lynn teen pregnancy rate on decline

LYNN – The number of teen pregnancies in the city has dropped, but the rate still soars well above the state average, according to a report by the Mass. Department of Public Health.The news is heartening to some but frustrating to others.”We’re 2.7 times the state’s (average) birth rate so there’s still work to be done but it’s trending the right way,” said Lynn’s Health Department Director Mary Ann O’Connor.”It’s great they declined a little bit, but it’s not really statistically significant,” said Lynn Community Health Center Executive Director Lori Berry. “Nothing much has changed.”According to the data released by the DPH, the number of teenage births in Lynn dropped from 172 in 2009 to 149 in 2010.Elizabeth Peck, public policy director for the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, said the latest statistics available are from 2010. At 17.1 births per 1,000 teen girls, the state’s teen birth rate for 2010 is the lowest ever recorded and 50 percent below the national average. Lynn’s is 46.2.View 2010 birth rates by communityPatricia Quinn, executive director of the alliance, credits the teens themselves for the drop.”Youth behavior data shows that rates of sexual activity have not changed significantly, so it appears that much of the decline in teen birth rates can be attributed to youth effectively using contraception,” she said.The availability of really good information concerning sexual health, improved access to contraceptives and state funding for family planning have also made a huge difference, Peck added.Berry, however, said the Lynn numbers concern her. Of the 149 teen births, 62.7 were born to Hispanic teens, which she said is huge jump that she can’t explain.”I just don’t know what to make of that,” she said. “The data tells you some things but not everything.”The high percentage could be reflective of the city’s poverty but she also thinks it might be reflective of the inability of young women to articulate a vision or a plan for their future.”I don’t believe it’s related to a lack of access to birth control,” she said. “I think it’s a lack of vision for the future as an adult. If you don’t believe college is for you this is the rite of passage to adulthood.”Of the teen girls who had babies, 68.5 percent were 18 or 19 years old, Berry noted.”Thirty one percent were 15 to 17 years old and two were 12 to 14 years old,” she said. “At least the 18- or 19-year-olds were finished with high school. Honestly, the data brings more questions than answers.”Quinn said she was particularly happy to see numbers in the western part of the state drop, but said communities will need to maintain reductions over time in order to call the changes significant.”But the trends are promising for these cities, and we congratulate the youth, providers, parents and government leaders for all their collaborative work to keep youth focused on their own potential before they have to focus on a child,” she said.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].