Minority Family Planning

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Grocery shopping first alerted me to the surge of children appearing in the city; noticing more items labeled ‘WIC approved’ along with ‘We accept EBT cards’ at wholesale clubs. Not having children personally but seeing families of matriarchs at these locations with multiple children around the same age—the question became: Where are all these children coming from? Having read somewhere the pregnancy rates have gone down substantially, the reality of the situation is proving otherwise. In fact it appears there is a population explosion particularly by lower-income minority females. Again maybe Hampton is a special place, but more young economically disadvantaged African American women appear to be having more births, more often than their other ethnic counterparts. Even though this appears to be the case, Hampton also boasts strong social programs to address the needs of this demographic. Two in particular, the family planning organization Planned Parenthood and the federally funded Healthy Families Partnership, work in concert to provide prenatal and postnatal care in the city. Unfortunately, there seems to be a disconnect with this demographic when receiving these services. Parent-child communication in regard to sexuality, comprehensive sex education in schools, and strong social support networks that promote proper family planning are all missing. Viewed through the theory of planned behavior attitudes and perceptions on pregnancy and family planning is addressed. Even though Hampton contains a strong social services network, the gulf between individual responsibility and behaviors of these women needs further investigation—how and what decisions they make before they become aware of such services.

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...w.ppsev.org/
Rehfeldt, R. A. (2005). Children and family services. In Crimando, W., & Riggar, T. F. (Ed.), Community resources: A guide for human service workers (pp. 225 - 234). Long Grove, Ill: Waveland Press.
Sable, M. R., & Libbus, M. K. (1998). Beliefs concerning contraceptive acquisition and use among low-income women. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 9, 3, 262-75.
Services | Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia. (2010). Welcome to the Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia. Retrieved June 12, 2010, from http://www.ppsev.org/services/familyPlanning.html
Virginia Department of Health. (2008) RESIDENT TEENAGE PREGNANCIES, LIVE BIRTHS, INDUCED TERMINATIONS OF PREGNANCY, AND NATURAL FETAL DEATHS. VDH Statistical Reports and Tables. Retrieved June 12, 2010, from www.vdh.virginia.gov/healthstats/documents/2010/pdfs/TeenPregRace08.pdf

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