Teen Births Rose In 2006

Rate Of Teenage Births Leaps 3 Percent; Births To Single Moms Hit Historic Highs

(WebMD)  The teen birth rate in the U.S. rose for the first time in 14 years in 2006, and the number of cesarean deliveries and births to unmarried women hit all-time highs, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Teen childbirths rose by 3 percent in 2006, to about 42 births for every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19.

That was up from 40.5 births per 1,000 in 2005, but still well below the 62 births per 1,000 recorded in 1991, when teen birth rates began their decade-plus decline.

About 20,000 more births were recorded among teens in the U.S. in 2006 than the previous year, with a 5 percent increase seen among African American teens, a 3 percent increase among non-Hispanic whites, and a 2 percent increase among Hispanics.

While it is too early to say if the rise represents the beginning of a trend, Stephanie J. Ventura, who heads the NCHS reproductive statistics branch, says it is cause for concern.

"This could continue or it could reverse, but it is not the direction we want to see," she tells WebMD.

New Baby Boom?

Overall, the birth rate increased by 3 percent to 4.26 million between 2005 and 2006, the largest single-year increase since 1989 and the largest total number of births since 1961, which was one of the last years of the baby boom.

Birth rates rose by 4 percent among women between the ages of 20 and 24, to 105 births per 1,000 and by 3 percent among those aged 40 to 44, to 9.4 births per 1,000.

An increase in the total fertility rate, which represents an estimate of the number of children a woman will have over her reproductive life, may be one explanation for the increase in overall births, Ventura suggests.

She says the rise represents a reversal in a trend, as an increasing number of families are made up of more than one or two children.

So when it comes to family planning, three may be the new two.

"I've heard people say that," she says. "All we can say is that the fertility rate is higher than it has been."

Record Cesarean Deliveries, Unmarried Moms

In 2006, nearly one in three babies in the U.S. was delivered by cesarean section.

The C-section rate rose by 3 percent to 31.1 percent - more than twice the target rate government health officials have called for among low-risk women by 2010.

C-sections were relatively rare in the U.S. before 1970, when just 5 percent of babies were delivered surgically.

By the mid-1980s, nearly one in four babies born in the U.S. was delivered by cesarean section. That number dipped slightly through the 1990s, but has been climbing steadily ever since.

The increase in births among unmarried women is definitely a trend, Ventura says. Births among this group hit historic highs in 2006.

The 1.6 million births among unmarried women represents an 8 percent increase over 2005 and is 20 percent higher than the recent low point for births in the group seen in 2002.

"Most of this increase is in women in their 20s," Ventura says. "This definitely suggests a change in attitudes about the issue."

Preterm Deliveries Rising

The preterm birth rate rose slightly in 2006, to 12.8 percent from 12.7 percent the previous year, and low-birth weight deliveries rose from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent.

Preterm births and low-birth rate deliveries have risen by 21 percent and 19 percent, respectively, since 1990, with late preterm births of between 34 and 36 weeks gestation rising by 25 percent, the NCHS's Joyce A. Martin, MPH, tells WebMD.

Though the reasons for this are not completely clear, Martin says one factor appears to be an increased willingness among health care providers to induce labor early.

The rate of infant deaths remained at a relatively stable 6.9 per 1,000 live births between 2004 and 2005, the last year for which mortality data have been analyzed.

African-American newborns continued to be more than twice as likely as white and Hispanic infants to die in the first year of life.

More than half of all infant deaths in 2005 were from birth defects, premature delivery, sudden infant death syndrome, and complications at delivery.

Life Expectancy Still Rising

There were 2.44 million deaths in the United States in 2005, an increase of about 50,000 deaths over 2004.

Life expectancy continued to increase to a record high of 77.9 years in 2005, or 0.1 year more than the previous year.

The life expectancy for a white female born in 2005 is now 80.8 years, compared to 75.7 years for a white male, 76.5 years for a black female, and 69.6 years for a black male.

[providence_k]

A lawyer should sue on the behalf of the baby in the womb? When two people say yes to having sxx they are making a contract to what results from the union. So if a baby is conceived the baby has the rights guaranteed under the binding contract of the union. Another words the baby has rights as a person because of the union, agreement! A binding contract is when two people agree to a course of action, a pledge if you will!

Sounds like a good concept for lawyers and the constitution to get on board and fight this all the way to the supreme court! Do you think these two will win?
This reminds me of a H-T-L-E-R movie were all the Jews were put to death by choice! I think we referred to it as an atrocity,

[dog7771]

How''s that abstinence only working out for ya? Not so good, huh?

[newsterl]

The show takes viewers on a journey from babyhood, when we get through 3,796 diapers and produce 67 gallons of urine, through to old age and death, by which time we will have eaten 10,866 carrots, taken 7,163 baths and passed wind an average of 15 times a day.

Now the anti abortion crowd can begin to get an idea how much of an impact EVERY unwanted fetus would have on this planet.

[newsterl]

For each MOUTH that is born, approximately 25 TONS of food are consumed by this person over their lifetime.

The average American adult eats over 525 pounds of food each year of his life.

Over 70 years, that person will eat:

35 turkeys
23 hogs
14 head of cattle 2 calves
12 sheep
880 chickens
770 pounds of fish.

The average person will eat over 10,000 bars of chocolate, shed 121 pints of tears and have s3x more than 4,200 times, a television documentary will claim tomorrow.

It also looks at the effect each human being has on the planet during the 2,475,576,000 seconds that each of us will, on average, have on Earth
Mr Watts and his team spent the next two years compiling hundreds of statistics and then came up with ways of visualising them, including a Hansel and Gretel house built with 10,000 bars of chocolate and more than 15,000 pints of "milk" (water and powder paint) left on a doorstep.
He said: "It''s about wondering what it would look like if all the clothes, washing machines and toilet paper you ever used were piled up outside your front door. Or if you were to lay out all the bread you will ever eat or cups of tea you will drink."

He said the statistic that surprised him the most was that each person smokes, on average, 77,000 cigarettes.

[newsterl]

Women who have abortions should not be made to feel guilty; rather, they should walk away secure in the knowledge that their action has helped the country, the whole planet in fact. She should think of all the resources that will not be consumed and all the waste that will not be generated because she chose to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. It is not a decision to regret, but one to be thanked for.

Posted by rf35

CLAP CLAP CLAP, well said! I know a movie I think called "the human body" shown in theaters in the late 70''s showed how much resources a person uses in their lifetime, they showed a warehouse with food, gallon jugs of water, barrels of oil etc etc stacked up, it was a massive amount of raw materials.
The Hudson Valley Film Commission April 10 will screen the world premiere of ''Human Footprint,'' a National Geographic documentary that examines how much the average American consumes in a lifetime.


If you%u2019ve decided to have an abortion make sure you%u2019ve selected a good health care center or a qualified, licensed practitioner. Contact the National Abortion Federation%u2019s toll-free hotline, 1-800-772-9100, for a referral. Generally speaking, if a clinic has not been certified by the National Abortion Federation there%u2019s probably a good reason.

[providence_n]

A lawyer should sue on the behalf of the baby in the womb? When two people say yes to having sxx they are making a contract to what results from the union. So if a baby is conceived the baby has the rights guaranteed under the binding contract of the union. Another words the baby has rights as a person because of the union, agreement! A binding contract is when two people agree to a course of action, a pledge if you will!

Sounds like a good concept for lawyers and the constitution to get on board and fight this all the way to the supreme court! Do you think these two will win?
This reminds me of a H-T-L-E-R movie were all the Jews were put to death by choice! I think we referred to it as an atrocity,

[drscareme]

not to worry...we now have GARDASIL so the rate of teen births will go up yet again....and those babies will be malformed and damaged, like in the clinical studies for the vaccine...(shhhh, that part is supposed to be secret...the fda wouldn''t approve something that isn''t safe, would it?)

[rf35]

Women who have abortions should not be made to feel guilty; rather, they should walk away secure in the knowledge that their action has helped the country, the whole planet in fact. She should think of all the resources that will not be consumed and all the waste that will not be generated because she chose to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. It is not a decision to regret, but one to be thanked for.

[newsterl]

If you%u2019ve decided to have an abortion make sure you%u2019ve selected a good health care center or a qualified, licensed practitioner. Contact the National Abortion Federation%u2019s toll-free hotline, 1-800-772-9100, for a referral. Generally speaking, if a clinic has not been certified by the National Abortion Federation there%u2019s probably a good reason.

[newsterl]

In 2000, 1.3 million abortions were performed in the United States.

[NOT QUITE the 5000 a day RICK claimed, more like 3400]

It is estimated that more than one in every three American women will have an abortion by the time they reach 45. Underlying these statistics is the reality that women who seek abortions do not constitute any one particular %u201Ctype.%u201D

When are most abortions performed?

The vast majority of abortions in the United States -- approximately 88% of them -- take place during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Abortions that take place after 21 weeks of pregnancy, moreover, account for only 1.2% of the total.

What is %u201Cpartial birth%u201D abortion?

%u201CPartial birth%u201D abortion is a term that has been developed and exploited by the anti-choice community to describe abortions that take place after 21 weeks of pregnancy. As noted above, third trimester abortions are extremely rare and constitute just over 1% of abortions performed annually in the United States. Despite the claims of anti-choice community, third trimester abortions are generally limited to cases of severe fetal anomalies or situations in which the health or life of the pregnant woman is severely threatened.