Teen birth rate at all-time low says CDC figures
- Teen birth rates plummeted 10% from 2013 to 2014 – a third of the rate in 1991
- Meanwhile, more women are choosing to wait until their 30s to have babies
- Experts suggest pregnancy is becoming taboo among kids, and more young people are using effective forms of contraception
Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com
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Teen birth rates have hit an all-time low in America, new CDC figures reveal.
As of 2014, there were just 24 births per 1,000 girls under the age of 19 – plummeting 10 percent in just one year, according to a new report by the government agency.
That is half the rate recorded in 2007, and a third of the rate in 1991.
Nonetheless, the birth rate increased by 1 percent between 2013 and 2014.
The CDC researchers said that could partly be explained by the skyrocketing rate of mothers over 30, which now accounts for a third of total births.
New figures show teen birth rates are falling. Experts suggest pregnancy is becoming taboo among kids, and more young people are using effective forms of contraception (file image)
SEVERE RISKS FOR OLDER WOMEN IN PREGNANCY
Women who leave it late to have children are at a much greater risk of severe complications, experts warn.
Those who become mothers over 44 were more than twice as likely to die or suffer a serious condition than those who gave birth in their 20s, a study found.
They were also more than ten times as likely to end up in intensive care than those who have a child in their early twenties.
While many studies have suggested older mothers are more likely to have a stillbirth or a baby with conditions such as autism and Down’s syndrome, there is less research about the risk to their own health.
Lead author Dr Sarka Lisonkova, assistant professor in maternal medicine at the University of British Columbia in Canada, said: ‘Women usually worry about their babies, and not so much about the implications for their own health.’
The report was a far-reaching account of data on birth certificates, death certificates and fetal deaths across the United States between 2013 and 2014.
Speaking to CBS News, Dr Paul Jarris, chief medical officer at the March of Dimes, said pregnancy has become taboo among young people.
He also pointed to data showing an uptick in effective contraception among young people.
Indeed, a report released in September 2016 found that the sharp drop in teen pregnancy was down to rising rates of contraception used correctly.
Between 2007 and 2012, the number of new mothers aged 15 to 19 years old dropped 5.6 percent.
In that same period, sexual activity among teenagers increased – but there was also a notable climb in use of ‘effective’ contraception methods, like the IUD coil, the Pill and the injection, rather than condoms.
‘Adolescents’ uptake of any method, regardless of its failure rate, markedly reduces this risk,’ wrote the authors Laura Lindberg, John Santelli, and Sheila Desai from Columbia University.
They reflected on previous research that showed a similar drop in teen pregnancy rates between 1991 and 2007.
A number of reports had attributed this drop to declining sexual activity.
However, the authors insisted that the latest data unequivocally shows contraception is the root cause of today’s lower figures – showing a desire among women to delay motherhood.
The new CDC report also revealed that the infant mortality rate dropped to another all-time low to six infant deaths per 1,000 births.
There was also a drop in preterm births and cesarean deliveries.
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