Successful life navigation by former participants in a group for pregnant and parenting teens

Background: Teen motherhood has negative consequences for mother and child. The Mothers of Mount Sinai (MOMS) Program is a group that assembles weekly and is for pregnant/parenting teens to help them become competent parents, provide job training, and encourage education and reproductive health. Methods: Former MOMS participants were recruited to complete a survey if they were over 18, and they participated in a summer job training component between 1995 and 2006. The survey included questions about participants' lives at start of MOMS and currently, including education, finances, and pregnancies. Results: Thirty-one of 77 eligible former participants completed the survey, with mean elapsed time of 10.7 years since starting MOMS. Fifty-eight percent had graduated high school, 81% had graduated high school or obtained a GED, 55% had attended some college, and 13% had graduated college. Twenty-six women (84%) are currently employed with median income in the range of $20,000-35,000. Currently, more women are financially self-sufficient (45%) compared to when they started MOMS (7%) (McNemar chi square p = 0.000). Eighteen women (58%) received cash assist-ance when they started MOMS; currently only one does, p = 0.000. Twenty-three women (74%) did not become pregnant again before 20; only one had 2nd child during her teen years. Conclusion: Active MOMS participants were shown to have made great advances in education, employment, finances, and delayed 2nd births. These participants were a highly motivated group, which could contribute to a bias in the positive program effect.