On this week’s 51%, we explore pregnancy from two different angles. First, we hear from a mother who gave birth as a teenager in foster care. Then, a midwife talks about her profession and latest novel.
While teen pregnancy has declined throughout the years, it has not for girls in the foster care system. They’re two and a half times more likely to become pregnant by the time they're 19. Nicole Rocke was one of these young girls. Making Contact Reporter Leticia Miranda has Nicole's story from New York City.
Patricia Harman got her start as a midwife on rural communes and went on to become a nurse-midwife on the faculty of Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University and West Virginia University. Harman wrote two memoirs before her first novel, The Midwife of Hope River. Her follow-up novel is The Reluctant Midwife. I asked her what drove her to writing and what she thinks about the BBC series "Call the Midwife," whose fourth season premiered around the time The Reluctant Midwife was published.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — In case you haven't heard, there's been a female first when it comes to the NFL. The Arizona Cardinals have hired Jen Welter to coach inside linebackers through their training camp and preseason. The Cardinals say Welter is believed to be the first woman to hold a coaching position of any kind in the NFL. Welter played running back and special teams in 2014 for the Texas Revolution of the Indoor Football League, becoming the first woman to hold a non-kicking position for a men's professional sports league. She coached linebackers and special teams for the Revolution last season, becoming the first woman to coach in a men's pro football league. Welter holds a master's degree in sports psychology.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
And that's our show this week. Thanks to Katie Britton for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio.