A CATCH planning grant has established a WSU/DMC program to help teen moms keep their kids healthy. Pictured from left are: Dr. Victoria Garriett, Dr. Ling Mc-George, Dr. Lucia Roman-Marcial, Neather Libutsi, Dr. Lynn Smitherman, Dr. Stacy Leatherwood, and Glory Havlin from Wyeth Lederle Vaccines.

When adolescents become parents, they often lack the skills needed to obtain quality health care for their children. Compared to older parents, teen parents are less able to communicate effectively and less likely to ask for help with child care issues. Katherine Ling-McGeorge, MD, vice chair for education (in pediatrics) at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has introduced a program to educate teen mothers about the health care needs of their children.

The program, called Teaching Children How to Raise Children, is a semester-long class for teen mothers. It was designed by four resident physicians: Drs. Victoria Garriet, Antonya Godbold, Stacy Leatherwood, and Lucia Roman-Marcial.

"With a better understanding of health care, teen mothers become informed consumers of health care and stronger advocates for their children’s needs. They become more likely to schedule and keep health maintenance visits and to recognize how important it is for their children to have a medical home," said Dr. Ling-McGeorge.

The program is supported by a Community Access To Child Health (CATCH) grant, awarded by the American Academy of Pediatrics and funded by Wyeth Lederle Vaccines.