Teen births in the US hit a record low in 2010, and for the first time in a decade, C-sections appear to be falling, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
These revelations are in a report released last week titled “Births: Preliminary Data for 2010” from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The figures come from an analysis of nearly 100% birth records collected in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and US territories.
The report shows, among other things, that the proportion of 15 to 19-year-olds in the US giving birth has fallen every year in the last three years and for 17 out of the last 19 years, falling to 34.3 births for every 1,000 teenagers in 2010. This is a 9% fall from the 2009 figure and the lowest rate recorded in nearly 70 years of collecting such data.
Cesarean deliveries have also fallen for the first time since 1996. In 2010, the rate of C-section deliveries was 32.8% of all deliveries compared to 32.9% in 2010.
The birth rate for women in their early 20s also fell, by 6% in 2010. It also fell for women in their late 20s and 30s, but for women in their early 40s it increased to 10.2 per 1,000 women in 2010 compared with 10 in 2009. This is the highest birth rate for women in the 40s since 1967, says the CDC.
The report also shows that the overall fertility rate fell by 3% from 66.2 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 44 in 2009 to 64.1 in 2010, marking the third straight decline for the overall fertility rate in the US.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD