New project aims to better support teen mothers in Adams County

WCPO highlights UC, Adams County Health Department partnership

WCPO highlighted a partnership between the University of Cincinnati and the Adams County Health Department that is aiming to provide better support for teen mothers in the county.

“There's no really designated mental health services directly for teen moms,” Kaitlyn Bruns, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience in UC's College of Medicine, told WCPO.

Adams County, Ohio has a higher teen birth rate compared to the national average, and Bruns said rural areas tend to have higher rates than urban ones.

“When I'm working with teen moms in particular, they're really lost,” she said. “They don't know how to navigate the system.”

Bruns is now leading focus groups in Adams County to learn more about the experiences and challenges teen mothers are facing. A formal support group is planned to begin in the coming months.

“That’s kind of what we’re hoping the project and their program will do is provide that social support, so they're not isolated,” Bruns said.

Read or watch the WCPO story.

Featured photo at top of a pregnant woman. Photo/Cassidy Rowell/Unsplash.

Related Stories

9778 Results
3

E-BRIEF: Let's Toast to a Healthier 2003

January 8, 2003

The New Year often means a new health kick: Vows to tone up and trim down, and maybe going to the doctor and getting ourselves as regularly "maintenanced" as we do our cars. So, this week's University of Cincinnati e-briefing examines the health concerns of the young and old, and what you should be doing to preserve your good health.

10

Leader of Fetal Surgery to Deliver Lectures at UC

January 31, 2003

An internationally recognized authority on fetal surgery will lecture at the UC Medical Center, representing the first of a series of lectures on fetal surgery presented by the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob/Gyn).