The Effects of School-Based Health Clinics in St. Paul on School-Wide Birthrates

Authors:
  • MRMichael D. Resnick
    Michael D. Resnick
  • BDBlake Downes
    Blake Downes
  • TKThel Kocher
    Thel Kocher
  • PGPaul Gunderson
    Paul Gunderson
  • SPSandra Pothoff
    Sandra Pothoff
  • DZDaniel Zelterman
    Daniel Zelterman
  • RBRobert Blum
    Robert Blum
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Abstract
School-based clinics in St. Paul have provided comprehensive health services, including reproductive health care, for almost two decades. This study examines the effects of those clinics on the birthrates in their respective schools, using a newly developed methodology with numerous advantages over previous methods for estimating student birthrates. Confidentially matching the names of female students from school records with the names of mothers on birth records at the Department of Health provided birthrates for each of the St. Paul public high schools with clinics for each year between 1971 and 1986. The results show that birthrates fluctuated dramatically from one year to the next, but school-wide birthrates were not significantly lower in the years immediately following the opening of a clinic than in the years preceding it.