Help for teenage parents

The Teen Tot Clinic is the brainchild of Dr. Michelle Huddleston and Dr. Sarah Beaumont, dual trained physicians in pediatric and adolescent medical care. While serving young children at Phoenix Children's Hospital's General Pediatric Outpatient clinic, these two physicians experienced several teen parents reporting many barriers to receiving their own healthcare.

The doctors noted that the rate of repeat pregnancies, failure in completion of education and vocational goals were observed outcomes. Together, these physicians created the revolutionary concept of providing medical care for teen parents and their young children within one medical visit, ending the teen's transportation barriers. Further enhancement of the medical model included the addition of a social worker and an expert in child development, the Healthy Steps specialist.

The Phoenix Children's Hospital Teen Tot Clinic is the first in the nation to incorporate Healthy Steps into its model. New mothers receive post partum depression screens, contraception guidance and overall support helping them succeed as parents. New fathers receive support and guidance learning to care for their child and encouragement to help them succeed with educational and vocational goals.

The Teen Tot team provides comprehensive health care to child and parent(s), serving the whole family with goal setting and support, linkage to community resources and guidance in parenting based on evidence based strategies. Families receive support between medical visits by the Healthy Steps specialist through home visits and all children receive regular and timely developmental screening. Parents are encouraged to call the Healthy Steps Child Development Information Line where parenting questions and support are provided between medical visits. The Teen Tot staff partner with many community based organizations and schools to insure that teens meet their educational goals.

It was anticipated that 100 teens and their children would be served each year, but that number was met in the sixth month of the program's start-up Rates in repeat pregnancies have dramatically dropped and identification and treatment of post partum depression has risen. Teens and their parents say the clinic staff have become part of their family!