IT TAKES A COLLEGE

BY HELEN WIDMAN PHOTOS PROVIDED BY KAT ALTIER-JEFFERS

Kat Altier-Jeffers is both a parent and a student at Ohio University who exemplifies how access to resources can make all the difference in young parenthood.

Kat Altier-Jeffers is a typical junior studying creative writing at Ohio University. They enjoy creating and selling digital illustrations online and work part-time in the Career and Leadership Development Center. But there is one thing that truly makes Altier-Jeffers stand out from the majority of students at OU — they have a one-yearold son.

Although Altier-Jeffers did not plan on becoming a parent during college, it was a blessing in disguise.

“I actually have reproductive health problems. It was one of those things where I wasn’t necessarily planning on having a child at this point in my life, but at the same time I was afraid it would be my only opportunity. So, I just went ahead,” Altier-Jeffers says.

Fortunately, they did not face much backlash from friends and family upon the news. Altier-Jeffers says that their friends noticed pregnancy signs before they even found out.

“My family was pretty positive about it,” Altier-Jeffers says. “And my friends were definitely on my side saying they would support me through everything if I ever needed a babysitter or if I ever needed somebody to talk to. I don’t have a lot of friends actually inside college, and so a lot of my friends already are parents.”

Altier-Jeffers is not the first, and will not be the last, person to experience an unexpected pregnancy during their young adult years. According to the Pew Research Center, “In 2018, the birth rate among 15 to 19-year-old girls and women was less than half of what it had been in 2008 (41.5 births per 1,000).” However, despite this statistic, the number of adolescent pregnancies in rural counties, like the Appalachian region, is not declining as it is in the rest of the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, data from the National Vital Statistics System revealed that, “From 2007 through 2015, the teen birth rate was lowest in large urban counties and highest in rural counties.”

Altier-Jeffers worked to support their family after graduating high school and started college a couple years later, in addition to taking a leave of absence due to pregnancy. Now, they’re a junior at OU working to support another family — one that consists of a baby and a husband.

Altier-Jeffers and their husband, Austin Jeffers, have been together for over seven years. The couple was engaged when Altier-Jeffers became pregnant in early summer 2018 and married the following October.

In addition to working, studying and parenting, Altier-Jeffers is also perfecting a website where they sell custom illustrations that will hopefully help finance their young family.

“As of right now, it’s just kind of like a side hustle to sometimes make ends meet,” Altier-Jeffers says. “I’m just a crafty person in general, and I feel like if I can use that to either brighten someone’s day or get an idea out of their head, or even just to make me a little money to make ends meet, then it’s totally worth putting a little effort towards.”

Altier-Jeffers currently resides in Pomeroy, near Athens, and commuted to campus for classes before the pandemic.

“I think the hardest part is that I am a college student,” Altier-Jeffers says. “So, it’s definitely a balancing act balancing childcare and work and college and still trying to have time for myself. I think the most difficult thing is sleep.” “ So, it's definitely a balancing act balancing childcare and work and college and still trying to have time for myself.”

Fortunately, the couple typically has steady childcare for their son.

“Mine and my husband’s work schedules actually work out so we don’t really need a babysitter anymore,” Altier-Jeffers says. “The only conflict area is usually Mondays, where I sometimes have to take my child to class, which can be difficult. Or, my mom or my mother-in-law watch him.”

Last year, Altier-Jeffers took an English class with Professor Carey Snyder. Snyder recalls not knowing that Altier-Jeffers had a child until about midway through the semester, when they had trouble with childcare. “[They] just had a mishap with childcare and normally had a sitter at that time, and [they] emailed me in advance and said my childcare has fallen through ... so [Altier-Jeffers] didn’t presume [they could bring their child to class]. And I didn’t know at that time if we had a policy about having children come to class or babies come to class,” Snyder says.

After inquiring with her department head, Snyder learned that there is no formal policy about students bringing their children to class.

“I had never had anyone ask me that question,” Snyder says. “I was definitely in favor of trying to support [them] in any way I could, but I didn’t want to be distracting to the other students. I was sort of tentative initially, but it worked out fine.”

One of the most valuable accommodations Altier-Jeffers utilizes on campus is the lactation rooms, since one of the biggest concerns for Altier-Jeffers when they returned to campus was whether they would be able to continue to breastfeed. “I take full advantage of the lactation rooms located on campus … It gives you a nice private space to pump breast milk … I don’t have to breastfeed in public, I can go to a private location,

Kat Altier-Jeffers, husband Austin Jeffers and their son.

which relieves some of the stress,” they say. There are seven lactation rooms overseen by the Women’s Center on OU’s campus, all of which are equipped with microwaves and sink to sterilize and wash breast pump equipment.

Dr. Geneva Murray, the director of the Women’s Center, helps oversee the lactation rooms and is currently pushing for more to be incorporated in new buildings on campus. “We haven’t finished, we still believe that there should be more lactation spaces on campus,” Dr. Murray says. According to Dr. Murray, the Women’s Center has been working with building designers to make sure that more private lactation rooms are included in building plans.

The Women’s Center does not use formal documentation to see who uses the rooms. Dr. Murray stresses the importance of giving mothers privacy when using the lactation rooms.

“In our own culture, there can still be a resistance to talking about lactation and breast pumping or chest pumping or feeding,” Dr. Murray says. “And so we want people to be able to freely use the rooms.”

In addition to the lactation rooms, Altier-Jeffers also utilizes other resources that are available to young mothers in the Athens area.

“We definitely live below the poverty lines,” Altier-Jeffers says. “So, we take advantage of different government programs like the medical card. Other than that, honestly, we haven’t had that many financial troubles.”

The medical cannabis card is available to Ohio residents who meet certain qualifying conditions. Another government program that Altier-Jeffers utilized throughout pregnancy is the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program.

“It’s a supplemental program to make sure that the mother

and child are taken care of nutritionally,” Altier-Jeffers says. “I used it a lot more when I was pregnant and that’s how we got a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables in the house. I also have a lactose problem, so it’s the only way I can actually afford almond milk and soy milk.”

The Women’s Center directs young mothers to other resources and also offers support.

“We try to provide support as broadly as that is, and often that’s connecting people to other resources,” Dr. Murray says.

Altier-Jeffers seems to agree.

“The people in the Women’s Center are great if you ever need somebody to talk to, or some type of support system,” Altier-Jeffers says.

One local resource, the Athens Birth Circle, offers monthly meetings, a Prepared Parents Workshop and sometimes free baby items.

“We meet monthly from May to June, and then we take a break in July and we start again from August to November,” Ariel Carver, director of the Athens Birth Circle, says. “And we do the same topics again for the second four months and with different people [speakers].” This year, the next Prepared Parents Workshop is on March 21, and is aimed toward mothers age 23 and under.

“With our younger parents, not all their friends are in that place. That’s not something that they’re going through with their regular friend group. So, having a group that is dedicated to that can be helpful, and a lot of the parents who end up coming to that are pretty low income,” Carver says. “So, we do

Postpartum support group is led by Samantha Catania of Hopewell Health centers.

Sara Wright, left of Born in Ohio Birth Education, leads a "practicing labor techniques" demonstration.

offer some, not necessarily financial support, but we get a grant and buy the stuff to give them so we have diapers every time, [which] is always a big thing, and we give out baby carriers to each group, and things like that, that can help them along.”

In addition to the Prepared Parents Workshop, the Athens Birth Circle also has regular lactation consultants, local midwives and speakers come in for its monthly meetings.

“We start with pregnancy and then end birth, and then breastfeeding and postpartum infant care, safety, parenting sorts of things,” Carver says. Every four months, the cycle starts over so new parents in all stages of pregnancy are accommodated.

The Athens Birth Circle typically meets at the Athens Public Library on the last Wednesday of every month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.They are currently meeting over Zoom, due to the pandemic. Despite the proximity to OU’s campus, Craver notes that not many college students utilize the Birth Circle as a resource.

“We haven’t had a lot of college students. We’ve had some high school students and some more out of high school that didn’t go to college … we just haven’t happened to have a lot of college students, but we would welcome them,” Carver says.

As for Altier-Jeffers, the resources provided by OU’s campus and the Athens community has made young parenting doable and they have no regrets about choosing to pursue parenting.

“It’s difficult, but it’s rewarding. I’ll have a long stressful day at school and then have to fight to put a baby to sleep as soon as I get home,” Altier-Jeffers says. “But even just taking time reading to him is so rewarding. It’s like when you have to take time away from one place, you have to add it in another, and it takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth it.” b