Website info
BabyCanWait.com was created in collaboration between United Way of Greater Milwaukee, SERVE Marketing, Northwoods Software and residents from Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Site content was developed by residents from Children's Hospital and is managed by the United Way of Greater Milwaukee staff, interns & a Public Ally, who serves as the project lead.
This website is meant for Milwaukee's youth, to help them access the knowledge and resources to prevent pregnancy. Research says that kids want straightforward answers to their questions about puberty, sex & relationships. They aren't always comfortable asking their parents or guardians.
While we always recommend teens talk to a trusted adult, this site enables them get some straight answers. It's our goal that this resource will help reduce teen pregnancy and enable our community's children grow up healthy and safe.
We must reduce teen pregnancy.
We all wish to thrive in a community that is physically, socially & economically healthy. We all aspire for our families to achieve at the greatest level possible. In looking at both the causes & effects of an unhealthy community, there is one issue that stands out: teen pregnancy.
While there are many very committed people & organizations doing noble work with Milwaukee youth, such efforts have not succeeded in significantly reducing the alarming rate of teen births.
Therefore, United Way of Greater Milwaukee, along with its community partners, examined the issue of teen pregnancy as it relates to the overall health of our community and breaking the cycle of poverty.
In April 2008, the organization & its community volunteer Teen Pregnancy Prevention Oversight Committee announced a goal to reduce Milwaukee’s birth rate among 15-17 year old's 46% by 2015. This goal would reduce that rate to 30 per 1000. This is the first time an organization or individual has set forth a community wide goal for teen pregnancy prevention in Milwaukee.
In 2006 55.4 per 1,000 15-17 year old girls gave birth. Then in 2007 there was a huge drop to 47 births per 1,000 in the city. Data shows that there were 46.73 births per 1,000 females aged 15-17 years old in 2008, which is a slight drop from 2007. Milwaukee’s teen birth rate remains at a historically low level! We are one step closer to reaching our goal.
United Way of Greater Milwaukee continues to lead the charge by rallying community leaders and mobilizing resources to address this public health crisis.
Learn more about Milwaukee's teen pregnancy epidemic and what The United Way of Greater Milwaukee is doing to end it.
Please click here to contact us for more information.