Are you driving less because of high gas prices? Maury County Heath Council Chair Elaine Williams (third from left) displays the Teen Pregnancy Proclamation issued by Gov. Phil Bredesen in observance of May as Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. read more

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The department of education disclosed the alarming escalation of teenaged pregnancy that made headlines last year. Official figures from the provincial departments of education reveal that 5 868 learners in KwaZulu-Natal and 1 748 in the Free State fell pregnant last year. His recent research will enable us to understand why teenage pregnancy in South Africa in 2006/07 could lead to a massive wave of future crime. Unlike the children born before the ban, this new army of children lived miserable lives; they were under-achievers at school, struggled to make a living and many of them became criminals. The above passage could be speaking about the growing numbers of teenaged girls in South Africa who are carrying babies, who have every chance of living in poverty and swelling the numbers of criminals on our streets when they grow up. read more

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Science Daily — Preterm delivery, and particularly "extreme prematurity" — defined as less than 32 weeks of gestation — are major contributors to perinatal sickness and death worldwide. A new study has found that maternal alcohol use during pregnancy can contribute to a substantial increase in risk for extreme preterm delivery. Sokol and his colleagues collected data on exposure to alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes, as well as corresponding outcomes, from 3,130 pregnant women and their infants. Findings indicated that alcohol and cocaine, but not cigarette, use were associated with an increased risk of extreme preterm delivery; alcohol accounted for the lion’s share of the risk. Although there is less clarity on why the effects of alcohol on prematurity were more pronounced among women aged 30 years and older, Sokol said he and other researchers have seen what appears to be a greater susceptibility to neurobehavioral effects and anatomic congenital anomalies in pregnancies among older women. The bottom line, said Sokol, is that there is a substantial risk of extreme preterm delivery that is associated with alcohol use during pregnancy. read more

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