A program at Muscatine High School has been so successful, it's going to close in the spring. A big decline in the number of students with babies, means the school nursery is no longer needed.
Diana Broderson, from the Muscatine YMCA, says a partnership of the Y, the high school, and Trinity Public Health opened the nursery in 1990 because at that time Muscatine had the highest rate of teen pregnancies in Iowa. The nursery was licensed for up to 5 babies, but now there's just one, and its mother will graduate soon.
And she credits their focus on prevention for the dramatic change - sex education and character development programs in the middle and high schools, and a teen parent support group at the Y.
When the nursery closes, help will still be available for young mothers in Muscatine to find child care.
