John Herbert Niles, Jr. , M.D. '59Helping Young Women Take Charge of Their Lives
In the early 1980s, Washington, D.C. had the highest infant mortality rate in the nation. The risk factors for infant mortality-teen pregnancy, poor maternal nutrition, substance abuse, lack of adequate prenatal care, sexually transmitted diseases-are the highest among the poor, who are concentrated in urban centers like the District of Columbia. In order to reduce infant mortality, therefore, D.C. needed to tackle an entire social phenomenon.
When then mayor Marion Barry put together a committee to address the issue, he tapped Dr. John Herbert Niles, Jr. '59 to head the effort. Dr. Niles served as the chairman of the Mayor's Advisory Board of Maternal and Child Health from 1982 to 1986. A practicing ob/gyn since 1971, Dr. Niles knew that research had shown that infant mortality was highest among the children of teenage mothers and of older women who had been teen mothers. Reducing teen pregnancy became his mission. "I saw that this was an area where I could make a contribution, where I could make a difference," he says.
In 1986 Dr. Niles founded the Columbia Hospital for Women's Teen Health Center, where he also served as medical director. In 1997 he began expanding an established teen program into the Washington Hospital Center's Teen Care Network, becoming the network's medical director in 1999.
The center offers a comprehensive program to meet all the needs-emotional and physical-of its clients. The women the center serves often come from dysfunctional or abusive backgrounds, and many are themselves the children of teen mothers. Sexually transmitted diseases are common: the human papilloma virus, which can cause cervical cancer, is particularly widespread, and girls as young as fifteen are HIV-positive (the result of exposure as early as age nine). Only about a fifth of the girls who find themselves pregnant have an ongoing relationship with the baby's father. "We try to address all of their issues," says Dr. Niles. "We don't just treat their medical conditions. We show these women how to take charge of every aspect of their lives and how to keep themselves physically and emotionally healthy."
The center educates its clients about proper nutrition and prenatal care. Case managers, health educators, social workers, ob/gyn residents, ob/gyn attending physicians, and nurse midwives-all attempt to develop a personal relationship with each girl. The young women also receive counseling to boost their self-esteem and their conflict-resolution skills. Health educators teach the young women how to reduce their exposure to STDs and avoid future pregnancies, and the center offers access to a variety of methods of protection and long-term birth control. No pregnancy terminations are performed at the centers.
In 1997 the federal government developed an incentive program to encourage states to work toward the reduction of teen pregnancies and out-of-wedlock births. In April 1997 Mayor Barry tapped Dr. Niles to be co-chair of the Mayor's Committee to Reduce Teen Pregnancy. The number of teen pregnancies and out-of-wedlock births in the District of Columbia dropped radically over the past two years, qualifying D.C. for $40 million in federal grant incentives. Most important, the infant mortality rate is half what it was twenty years ago.
In February of this year, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association recognized the importance of Dr. Niles's work and the depth of his commitment by awarding him its Outstanding Local Service Award in the Support of Family Planning and Reproductive Health.
In addition to maintaining a large and diverse private practice, Dr. Niles is overseeing the center's expansion into several additional high-risk areas of D.C. A member of the Allegheny College Board of Trustees since 1992, and of the board's Executive Committee, Dr. Niles attributes his commitment and interest in community service to the liberal arts education he received at Allegheny. He resides in Maryland with his wife, Amy, and their three-year-old daughter, Hannah. He also has two sons and three daughters from previous marriages.
- Rebekah Ashmore Woodworth '94
