Healthy Starts Committee
As all parents know, children don’t come with an instruction booklet. Well-meaning parents and grandparents sometimes give new parents – and especially teen parents – advice that contradicts what research tells us about safe and effective parenting. And unfortunately, this fact contributes to Nashville’s tragically high infant mortality rates; in some areas of Nashville, the infant mortality rates are comparable to those of third-world nations.
That’s why the Healthy Starts Committee is working to make sure that every teen parent in Nashville – mothers and fathers – has access to information that saves children’s lives. “Safe sleeping habits are a proven method for reducing infant mortality rates,” said Dr. Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, Chair of the committee and Director of Infant & Maternal Health at the Metro Nashville Public Health Department. “But many teen parents tell us that their mothers and grandmothers tell them differently. They don’t know who to listen to – they want the best for their own children, but they need help sifting through all the information they receive.”
The committee continues to distribute the Healthy Nashville Healthy Future Resource Guide for school personnel working with pregnant and parenting teens. Along with a trimester calendar for care of new mothers and infants, the guide includes comprehensive descriptions of prenatal, postpartum and parent/infant services provided by community organizations.
Next
Building on success with the Healthy Nashville Healthy Future Resource Guide, the Healthy Starts Committee is planning a conference for May 2012 that will provide a wealth of life-saving information for pregnant and parenting teens (including teen fathers and fathers-to-be), as well as their own parents. The conference will equip both generations with information about safe sleeping habits, car and home safety, nutrition and physical activity, education, college and financial aid, and more – with the ultimate outcome of reducing infant mortality rates while breaking generational cycles that keep teen parents and their children in poverty. The conference will feature a new student guide full of information about community resources to help teens and their parents live healthy lives and raise healthy children.
For more information, please contact: Melissa Jaggers, Associate Executive Director.
