FRANKLIN  -- Franklin is dealing with one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Virginia.

Tamiya Reid is in high school and pregnant.

“I'm scared because I don't know really what to do,” Reid admits.

Her sister gave birth at age 16. Despite seeing that happen, Tamiya didn’t try to prevent the pregnancy and is living with that decision.

“It's a lot of stuff you ain't going to be able to do when you're pregnant.  It's going to be the same afterwards, too.  You just got more responsibilities; it's not just yourself anymore.”

In 2006, 37 of Franklin's nearly 600 teenage girls got pregnant.

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“It's not something that's going to get better on its own.  It really needs our intervention, says Dr. Lisa McCoy with the Western TIdewater Health Dept.

The agency is using a half-million dollar grant to help at-risk Franklin teens. Dr. McCoy says many of them are children or sisters of teen parents.

McCoy hopes to break that cycle by offering contraceptives and programs to boost self-esteem.

“It's not simply just giving them something to do, it's really helping them to see another path for their life,” she explains.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy says, from 2005 to 2007, the percentage of teens using condoms and birth control pills dropped.

The federal government says teen pregnancy is on the rise for the first time in 14 years. CDC data from 2006 shows a three-percent jump.

“Half of these Franklin girls, It's like man, I'm not about to pay for it, so if it happens, it happens.  If it don't, it don't,” says Latifah Blow.

Blow learned she was pregnant her senior year in high school.

“I ain’t going to lie. I fell into everybody trap. I became gullible because everybody used to talk about it all day every day at school.”

She knew her life would never be the same, but she refused to give up on her dreams.  She completed high school and is currently juggling motherhood and classes at Norfolk State University.

Most of her days begin at 4:00 a.m.

“I love my little boy, so it's going to pay off in due time,” she says.

Blow admits it can be tough and she wants her younger cousins to avoid making the same decisions.

“Girls in my cousin's 7th grade class are having sex, all her friends that's in 7th grade class are having sex.”

Blow uses her own experiences as a scare tactic for her young relatives.

It's a reality check she and Reid wish they'd had. Instead, their reality check was an ultrasound and a child.