His backpack hits the ground. Squealing excitedly, she comes waddling up with arms outstretched hands grabbing, begging him to pick her up. Bending over to pick her up her diaper squished against his arm and he heads towards the changing station. This was his after-school routine. Before homework could start he would change her diaper and play with her. She was his baby girl and she always came first.
According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 4.8 million students are raising children. Northwest senior Nelson Butler and his fiancé have a 19-month-old daughter named Sapphire.
Butler said being a father is a balancing act that involves a lot of time allocation.
“It has made my time very valuable, I have to balance on when I can do
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Northwest Wellness Services does not offer anything in regards to helping students dealing with pregnancy. However, Maryville’s The Source Medical Clinic does offer a number of services including pregnancy testing and abortion counseling.
Executive Director of the Source Medical Clinic, Gwen Knowles said college-age students are at the highest risk of pregnancy.
“People that are age 18 to 24, they are the population with the highest rate of pregnancy and STIs and STDs so we think it is really important to be in our community and offer that to people and offer it free of charge so everybody has access to it,” Knowles said. “We do have options and counseling. We will counsel on all three options of pregnancy that a person has which are carry to term and be a parent, carry to term and place for adoption or abortion, so we will give information about all of those things.”
Butler said his daughter has taught him a lot not only about being a father but also just about himself.
“There’s a lot of things I need to change a lot about myself,” Butler said. “I need to lose all my childish