European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 5, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                In Magazine social and cultural catastrophe child mothers by Sharon Cohen associated press for Kim the last Blush of girlhood the Whir of jump ropes playground flirtations and slumber parties faded and went cold at age 1 3. Kim got , Kim is a High school freshman. She has a 10-month old daughter and a stole Streak. I just have to take it As it comes she says with a shrug. Suffer the consequences whatever Good or bad  is a child Mother. She is one of almost 10,000 go resin the United states each year who at 14 years and younger Are wrested from the cocoon of childhood and thrust bewildered into motherhood. For teen mothers the Road is Tough enough. For child mothers the path is tougher and longer. Pawl Salty emotionally socially. America s youngest mothers Are disadvantaged at every turn. Their risks of problem pregnancies and of delivering so Elc Kly babies Are higher than Normal. They Reso hmm acute that they often treat that babies As dolls .  will be years before child mothers have High school diplomas jobs or Homes of so Short years before they themselves will be grown up. Child i welfare league in new York an author of pregnant again within two years. It s a social and cultural catastrophe for everyone concerned said or. Richard Naeye who studies disorders of new oms and is chairman of the department of pathology at the Pennsylvania state University College of Medicine. More than half of Alt child mothers Are Black Black girls 14 and younger Are seven times More Likely to have a baby than their White Peers. Social workers and academics believe Middle class families Are More Likely than poorer families to have a daughter s pregnancy terminated or her child adopted. While the actual number of child mothers is Small the adolescent pregnancy problem is much larger. Statistics indicate about 15,000 Girts younger than 15 have abortions each year. The a tint Whan girl got pregnant in High school now they re pregnant in grammar school said Cecelia Morton head of the Home economics department at Farragut High school in Chicago which offers Day care. They look so much like babies themselves she added. They take on so Many adult  but Many Young mothers Only children themselves fall to grasp their new responsibilities. They regard their infant As if this is my baby doll. Everything is going to be Fine said Ruby Taylor a social worker at Marillac House a social service Agency on Chicago s West Side. They spend Money they can t spare to dress their babies in expensive slugger outfits or Patent leather shoes As if they were playthings. That immaturity extends to their babies care. At Marillac Taylor supervises a program for pregnant teens and Young mothers called project Hope. There she dispenses advice Don t jump rope when you re eight months pregnant Koo mid and mashed potatoes do not make babies Strong a baby need not be rushed to the Hospital for a Stuffy nose. Some girls with offspring on their laps Are taught wednesday february 1986 the facts of life alter life is a fact. The new knowledge sometimes supplants childish fantasies. The girls Tell of their beliefs now painfully dispelled that it can t happen the first time or if you do it standing  Only three in 10 girls aged 14 and younger use contraceptives the first time they have sex the lowest percentage for any group of females according to child trends inc. Of Washington a non profit research group. Peer pressure is common. Girls say he kept asking me. He told me he loved me Taylor said. He said my friends Are making fun out of me they Don t think they have choices to say  once pregnant Moil Young girl Are too irresponsible to Cope with impending motherhood. That has consequences for Parent and child. As do most adolescents pregnant girls tend to eat the wrong foods Naeye said and find themselves competing with the unborn infant for  girls 14 and younger Are also the slowest to seek prenatal care about 20 percent receive no care until the seventh month if at All. The combination can produce costly even deadly results. Young mothers have much higher than Normal rates of anaemia and blood poisoning and a risk twice As High As those of women in their 20s of delivering Small babies 5% pounds or less. Such babies Are More susceptible to lung brain and intestinal problems resulting in Long Hospital stays and hefty Bills. While dire medical consequences can be avoided with monitoring and nutritional counselling other problems have no such ready solutions. Few girls can afford Day care leaving them Little option but to leave school. An Atlanta study found that one in three mothers age 15 and younger dropped out within a year of giving birth. Child mothers lacking education themselves also tend not to talk to their babies again treating them More As playthings. They feel silly talking to a baby who does t understand Miller said. Consequently those babies suffer. An april 1985 report by the National Institute of child health development said adolescent mothers have infants with slightly below average is. Later these children have trouble adapting in school. Parental support and social programs can help some girls overcome these Odds and gain a measure of stability. A tudy of 185 mothers aged 15 and younger in Chicago Cleveland and Minneapolis found that Over a 19-month period six in 10 did Well they remained in school and led stable lives. All had some help usually pre Natal or delivery services. But special programs usually drop off after birth and a child Mother s own Mother remains the key to Success said Miller who conducted the federally funded study. The grandmother makes a difference in whether they will make it or not whether she s willing to stick her neck out and provide social support and child care she said. Jose 14, is Kicky. Her Mother cares for her 5 month old daughter while Jose attends school. The arrangement helps her stay in school but does Little to stimulate her maternal instincts. It s hard to believe i have a baby said Jose who like other Young mothers asked that her last name not be used. A poster of Rock Star Michael Jackson hangs above the crib. It s sort of like she s my Mother s  the study found two other common trends four of five grandmothers had themselves been teen mothers with some As Young As 11 and about one in five child mothers got pregnant again within the study s spa Jackie a Sam Glria with stylish Short hair and Bright earrings was 14 and had a 6-month-old daughter when she became pregnant again last year. She had failed to replenish her Supply of birth control pills. The father of her second child her 16-year-old locker partner was excited. It was his first she said. There Are no marriage plans. I m not through having fun she said. I m not the Type logo out and have someone ask where have you been " As with Many Young mothers Jackie rejected abortion and adoption Why should i kill it i might As Well have it i went through All the pain. I m not going to give it  the stars and stripes Page 13