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Maria Shilaos reportingWhile teen pregnancies had been on the decline until early 2000, they're now headed back in the wrong direction.
Movies like Juno and celebrity pregnancies like that of 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears give heartburn to doctors at Primary Children's Medical Center, who care for the premature babies that often follow.
"Teenage mothers are at much higher risk to have preterm deliveries," says Donald Null, medical director of the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Primary Children's. "The risk in the general population is about 6 percent. In the teenage population, it's about 12 to 13 percent."
"Their nutrition tends to be poor. They are not prepared to have the baby because most of the time it's not a planned pregnancy, so the risk of birth defects is much higher," Null explained.
"I always blamed my doctor for having a premature baby," says 18-year-old Natalie, who gave birth at 26 weeks to a baby girl. "With the pains that I had, she wouldn't listen to me. So she wouldn't do an ultrasound to see if anything was wrong or anything. You're supposed to have an ultrasound at 20 weeks, you know?"
Not only has Natalie's baby had to undergo surgery, but she's been under the careful watch of doctors and her parents in the NICU since mid-October.
"People ask me to go hang out with them, and I say 'No, I have to go see my daughter,'" says the baby's dad. "I would rather see my daughter than go out and have fun. I always have to be there for her."
"You lose a lot when you have a kid," Natalie said. "When I ended up getting pregnant, I didn't want to do anything that would damage or hurt my baby, so I ended up leaving most of my friends that liked to party a lot, you know. And so, my life changed into something better than what it was."
But friends aren't the only things these teenage parents have had to give up. Neither of them have finished high school.
"When I was little I always told my mom, 'I always want to graduate and be something important in life.' And then when she found out I was going to be a dad, she's like 'You know what? Your dreams are just crushed, or most of them are,'" said the baby's dad. "I was like, 'I know, but it's worth it 'cause I know I'll have a chance later on.'"
For now, the couple is focused on getting their daughter well so she can come home with them.
On Tuesday, in part two of our series "The Child First and Always," we take a look at the serious medical decisions faced by these young parents.
Make sure to join us for the KSL Primary Children's Radiothon on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 25 and 26.
