Teen Birth Rate On a Steady Decline

Written by admin on September 9, 2013

Education about effective birth control works!

The teen birth rate is on a steady decline, according to a report released by the National Center for Health Statistics. And more widespread use of birth control seem to be the best candidate for the cause of the decline.

In 1991, the birth rate for young women between ages 15 and 19 was 61.8 per 1,000. That number has steadily decreased, and since 2007 it has fallen at a rapid rate. The 2012 birth rate is now down to 29.4 births per 1,000, a 6% decrease from the year before. This represents “a considerable one-year drop,” Dr. John Santelli told NBC News.

Contraception to Thank

According to Santelli, a pediatrician and a professor of population and family health at Columbia University, there is has been no significant change in abortion use or sexual activity that could account for the decline in birth rate. So, if teens are still having sex and are not getting more abortions, the most likely cause is that more teens are using more effective methods of birth control.

“What we have seen is greater availability of much more effective birth control methods,” Santelli said.

Teens are not the only ones who seem to be benefiting from this increase in birth control access. The birth rate for women between the ages of 20 and 24 is also at a record low: 83.1 births per 1,000. The availability of a broad spectrum of highly effective and convenient birth control methods, such as IUDs and implants, is very likely a big part of this trend.

Three cheers for birth control! Hopefully, as access to and accurate information about birth control continue to spread, we will see a continuation of this trend.