For years San Antonio has been dogged by a sky-high teen birth record, but in the latest report by the city's health department, there are signs that real change is being made, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"In the last year or so, our teen birth rate has actually declined below the state average," Metro Health Interim Assistant Director Mario Martinez tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI
.In 2016, there were 2,044 births to teenagers in San Antonio. That breaks down to 39-teen births a week, which Martinez admits is still higher than they would want to see.
San Antonio is still 50 percent higher than the national rate.
When you break it down by neighborhoods, there were 15 zip codes in San Antonio that saw a teen birth rate that was between two and four times the U.S. average. The epicenter was the 78203 area code, which is just east of downtown. That area, flanked by Commerce St. and Martin Luther King, saw four times the U.S. teen birth rate.
A broad swath of the city's north side saw between one and three times the U.S. teen birth rate.
Martinez says, what is disturbing, is that, last year, 406 teen mothers who gave birth already had at least one child. That accounts for 20 percent of all 2016 teen births.
So, what's working? He says its programs aimed at at-risk kids, offering guidance and mental health counselling. Going forward, they're pushing low-cost or free birth control.Metro Health has been working with a group called Project Worth.
Reiana Fernandez, who is a Teen Ambassador, says the message is working.
“I know teens that have been pregnant and I have heard some of their experiences. For many of them, it’s been very challenging."