TRAVERSE CITY -- Leah Cox was 16 and in high school when she learned she was pregnant with her son.
She knew nothing about prenatal care or how to raise a child. It was after she transferred to the alternative Traverse City High School that Cox, now 19, signed up for Medicaid, learned about breastfeeding and was warned of the dangers of smoking while pregnant.
A new study by the nonprofit Michigan League for Human Services, released Tuesday, aims to draw attention to trends in maternal and infant health, in hopes of improving children's quality of life.
"I sort of figured I had to do it on my own," said Cox, who is married and has a 4-month-old daughter. "I was not anywhere near ready for being a mother, but the programs helped prepare me."
The report, "Right Start in Michigan," compiled 15-year statistics dating back to 1992 for each of Michigan's 83 counties. Researchers compared changes in rates for eight risk factors throughout the entire 15-year period and since 2000 to discover trends.
The five-county area universally posted drops in the number of teens who gave birth and the number of women who smoked during pregnancy, according to results.
But the findings show increases across much of the region in the number of unmarried women who give birth and the number of low-birthweight babies.
"The circumstances at birth have a huge impact in setting the stage for those early years," senior research associate Jane Zehnder-Merrell said. "Having young women healthy coming into a pregnancy is one of the best things we can do."
All five counties had drops in their teen pregnancy rates from 1992 to 2007, the sharpest being a 51.8 percent drop in Benzie County, results show. Leelanau County had the most repeat teen births for the same period, an increase of roughly 25 percent.
Kalkaska County had the highest rate of women who smoke during pregnancy, 26.8 percent, from 2005 to 2007.
The county's health department has launched a hotline to help women quit, and those who smoke a pack a day on average reduce their intake to about five daily cigarettes by the time they deliver, registered nurse Karen Gallucci said.
And in the last decade, the Grand Traverse County Health Department opened a school-based clinic in Traverse City and launched a program to improve access to prenatal care.
Nearly all women enrolled now receive adequate care, said Lisa Peacock, a personal health administrator with the department.
"When I see these trends, I think about the work that we do," Peacock said. "There's still work to be done."
For more information
To access the study and gain specific data from your county, visit the Michigan League for Human Services online at www.milhs.org.
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