Teenagers gave birth to even more babies in 2007, according to a report by the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics. The increase marks the second time in a row for teen births since sliding into decline in 1991.
Teen births grew by one percent, equivalent to 42.5 live births for every thousand women aged 15 to 19. The figure represents a 5% jump from 2005, when teen births only began to overturn a 34% decrease since 1991.
Overall, America’s birth rate rose by one percent from 2006 to 2007. During that period, 69.5 babies were born to every one thousand childbearing women, 4.3 million babies in all.
CDC’s report, which was published in the Dec. 21, 2009 edition of Pediatrics, also indicated a hike in birth rate among unwed mothers. The demographic reported an increase of 39.7% in 2007, a percent higher than the previous year.
Stephanie Ventura, CDC chief of reproductive statistics, does not attribute the record-breaking increase to a baby boom, however. She remarked that the average American has only sired two children in the last few years.
CDC last saw the highest birth rate among teens in 1991, when nearly 62 births were reported for every one thousand youngsters. Since then, at least until 2003, teens have increasingly adopted contraceptive measures, if not avoided sex altogether, according to a nationwide CDC poll.
On the other hand, infant mortality rates still hover high: 6.77 deaths for every one thousand babies born. It is largely caused by the US’ lofty percentage in preterm births. While its percentage has decreased to 12.7 in 2007, US preterm births are still very high compared to Europe and other developed countries.
Nevertheless, life expectancy at birth broke 77.9 years in 2007, a record. In addition, the number of deaths among youngsters aged 1 and 19 shrank by 2.5%.