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Statistics say Jackson saved $1.6 million with family planning

Posted by

Mark Beardsley

in Area Headline News

Friday, August 10. 2012

Comments (7)

Statistics presented to the Jackson County Board of Health last month estimate that family planning services offered by the Commerce and Jefferson health clinics last year prevented 232 pregnancies, saving taxpayers over $1.6 million in hospital charges for those births.

“It’s amazing when you look at the numbers,” declared district health director Claude Burnett. “They say, given effective birth control, how much money you save by not having a hospital birth or a low-birth-weight birth… It’s a very cost-effective program. It costs less than $200 per year to serve somebody and saves a whole lot of money for Jackson County.”

Board member Brad Morris pointed out that the numbers Burnett cited do not include “derivative” expenses related to unplanned births, such as welfare payments, healthcare for the child and other social services likely to be required.

Burnett agreed. “This is a bargain, just the hospital costs, not to mention the costs downstream.”

Of that savings, Burnett said $600,000 comes from preventing pregnancies in teenagers. Of the 512 patients getting birth control services from the two health clinics in the past year, 209 were teens. Eighty-eight “prevented” pregnancies were to teens.

Burnett used a formula that takes the months of protection offered to clients of the clinics, divided by 12, less 12 percent for infertility and 33 percent for miscarriages to calculate births prevented.

Preventing teen pregnancy is one of the health clinics’ major focuses. A year ago, the department started Teen Matters, a clinic in Jefferson, that offers a full range of family planning services, from counseling to virtually every form of birth control. Traffic in the center has since doubled, observed Stephanie Rucker, county nurse supervisor.

“We are seeing at least twice as many for some weeks this summer,” she told the board of health. “We saw 11 patients two weeks ago Tuesday. That’s the most we’ve seen in one day.”
One of the new birth control methods offered is the Implanon implant, which goes under the skin, lasts for three years and has the lowest failure rate among users. Rucker said 16 clients have been implanted by the two clinics.

“They (clients) don’t have to remember to take a pill. They don’t have to remember to come back and see us,” Rucker said.

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#1 Anon on 08/13/12 at 06:20 AM [Reply]

If more parents would be more realistic about with their children are doing more teenage girls would be on birth control.

#1.1 just askn on 08/15/12 at 11:27 AM [Reply]

My opinion is that if the parents of these girls would take time to notice what they are wearing out in public there would be lots less babies to be born. Rapes occuring;kidnapping etc. Parents it IS YOUR JOB to take control.

#2 writing services on 08/14/12 at 10:17 AM [Reply]

I fully agree with this idea! I think good planning will help people a lot

#3 BS on 08/15/12 at 09:19 AM [Reply]

The offer every thing to teenage girls including abortion, without involving the parents. This was confirmed to me via a phone, I asked point blank if the could help me and was told the could refer me possibly to planned parent hood , without my parents knowing. I must admit I am an adult and was posing as a teenager.

#3.1 Definitely BS on 08/15/12 at 04:10 PM [Reply]

So then they DON'T offer abortions? It sounds like they told you where you could get one. Which is hardly a secret.

#4 T Kitchens on 08/15/12 at 02:58 PM [Reply]

If you are pregnant, regardless of your age, while you are pregnant you are considered a legal adult and can make decisions without the consent of your parents.

Dressing provocatively isn’t the main issue here. Parents are in denial about what their teenagers and even pre teens are doing. It’s a different day and age, but at the same time certain things haven’t changed. Girls and boys have been having sex at a young age for centuries, it’s nothing new. Even 50 years ago it wasn’t a big deal for a 14 year old to be married to an older man and bearing children by 17.

What’s changed? The mentality of the parents: children have been raised with less independence in the past few decades, and they are handicapped by this. By the time teenagers are placed in the social situations that could very well lead to sex, they should know the consequences and be prepared to avoid them. Instead, parents assume that their children will never have sex until they’re married, and if they do have sex, it won’t be unprotected because everyone knows that’s bad. Little do they know, these teenagers are only firing on hormones and if the parents avoid these tough subjects, their kids are going to avoid all thought of consequence.

Sure I’m not saying that it’s Susie’s parents fault that Susie had sex, but I am saying that it’s Susie’s parents fault that they are raising the child of their 14 year old daughter because they opted for ‘ignorance is bliss’ rather than approaching the subjects and taking the countermeasures needed to prevent an unplanned pregnancy.

If the parents aren’t going to take care of the needs of their teenagers, I’m glad someone else will.

#5 Kay on 08/22/12 at 06:58 PM [Reply]

"If you are pregnant, regardless of your age, while you are pregnant you are considered a legal adult and can make decisions without the consent of your parents"

~Are you sure about this? I know that the parents have no say regarding their minor teen's baby(as far as consenting to healthcare for the baby, etc.), but I'm pretty sure that in the state of Georgia a minor is a minor regardless of whether she is pregnant or not. For instance, if a pregnant 16 year old leaves home after the parents tell her "no", they can phone the local PD and they will bring her back home.

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