CDC: Teen Birth Rate at Historic Low
According to the CDC, this test is probably going to read negative. (Photo: Getty Images)
A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some good news: The teen birth rate is at a historic low.
According to the report, the birth rate for teens ages 15 to 19 dropped 9 percent from 2013 to 2014, and the rate declined for teens in all racial categories.
Birth rates dropped for unmarried women for the sixth year in a row, to 40.2 percent in 2014. C-section births also dropped for the second straight year, to 32.2 percent of all births — the largest drop since this data has been collected.
It sounds like good news, and it is, says Melissa Goist, MD, an ob-gyn at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “These are amazing steps in the correct direction for anyone who cares for women,” she tells Yahoo Health.
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There are a few reasons why these rates might be dropping. Goist cites improved long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), specifically Nexplanon (an implant) and IUDs, for the drop in teen and single mom births.
She applauds the efforts of pediatricians who are increasing teen awareness and helping to avoid unwanted pregnancies. Many pediatricians have also learned how to place and initiate an LARC contraceptive, she says, saving teens from having to make an appointment with a gynecologist — a potential barrier for them.
“In our unmarried population, more women are choosing LARC (which is very user-friendly and 99 percent effective) due to physicians becoming more comfortable with the side effects and offering it to a larger number of women,” she adds.
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The overall message from pop culture that it’s tough to be a teen or single mom also may be a factor, women’s health expert Jennifer Wider, MD, tells Yahoo Health. “The drop in the teen birth rate is most likely due to TV shows and public ad campaigns that underscore the challenges that young moms face,” she says. “There are also are a lot of policies and programs that are aimed at reducing teen births.”
But what about the drop in C-section births? Goist says it’s probably caused by newer labor recommendations that push back the active phase of labor (when the cervix begins to dilate rapidly and contractions are longer, stronger, and closer together). “This has allowed physicians to feel more comfortable with allowing labor to continue for a longer period of time with acceptable outcomes, i.e., vaginal delivery,” she says.
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Health organizations are strongly encouraging hospitals to reduce the number of C-sections they perform, says Wider. “This is definitely a positive because vaginal births are statistically safer for mother and child when compared with C-section delivery,” she says.
Wider stresses that the new data presents a rosier picture for women: “This is a great trend.”
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