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U.S.
Birth Rate Reaches Record Low
Births to Teens
Continue 12-Year Decline; Cesarean Deliveries Reach All-Time High
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
Contact: NCHS Press Office
(301) 458-4800
CDC Office of Media Relations (404) 639-3286
E-mail: paoquery@cdc.gov
Births: Preliminary
Data for 2002. NVSR Vol. 51, No. 11. 20 pp. (PHS) 2003-1120.
View/download PDF 1.2 MB
The
U.S. birth rate fell to the lowest level since national data have been
available, reports the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
birth statistics released today by HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.
Secretary Thompson also noted that the rate of teen births fell to a new
record low, continuing a decline that began in 1991.
The
birth rate was 13.9 per 1,000 persons in 2002, a decline of 1 percent from
the rate of 14.1 per 1,000 in 2001 and down 17 percent from the recent
peak in 1990 (16.7 per 1,000), according to a new CDC report, “Births:
Preliminary Data for 2002.” The current low birth rate primarily
reflects the smaller proportion of women of childbearing age in the U.S.
population, as baby boomers age and Americans are living longer.
There
has also been a recent downturn in the birth rate for women in the peak
childbearing ages. Birth rates for women in their 20s and early 30s
were generally down while births to older mothers (35-44) were still on
the rise. Rates were stable for women over 45.
Birth
rates among teenagers were down in 2002, continuing a decline that began
in 1991. The birth rate fell to 43 births per 1,000 females 15-19 years of
age in 2002, a 5-percent decline from 2001 and a 28-percent decline from
1990. The decline in the birth rate for younger teens, 15-17 years of age,
is even more substantial, dropping 38 percent from 1990 to 2002 compared
with a drop of 18 percent for teens 18-19 years.
“The
reduction in teen pregnancy has clearly been one of the most important
public health success stories of the past decade,” Secretary Thompson
said. “The fact that this decline in teen births is continuing
represents a significant accomplishment.”
More
than one fourth of all children born in 2002 were delivered by cesarean;
the total cesarean delivery rate of 26.1 percent was the highest level
ever reported in the United States. The number of cesarean births to women
with no previous cesarean birth jumped 7 percent and the rate of vaginal
births after previous cesarean delivery dropped 23 percent. The
cesarean delivery rate declined during the late 1980s through the
mid-1990s but has been on the rise since 1996.
Among
other significant findings:
In
2002, there were 4,019,280 births in the United States, down slightly from
2001 (4,025,933).
The
percent of low birthweight babies (infants born weighing less than 2,500
grams) increased to 7.8 percent, up from 7.7 percent in 2001 and the
highest level in more than 30 years. In addition, the percent of
preterm births (infants born at less than 37 weeks of gestation) increased
slightly over 2001, from 11.9 percent to 12 percent.
More
than one-third of all births were to unmarried women. The birth rate
for unmarried women was down slightly in 2002 to 43.6 per 1,000 unmarried
women, reflecting the growing number of unmarried women in the population
Access
to prenatal care continued a slow and steady increase. In 2002, 83.8
percent of women began receiving prenatal care in the first trimester of
pregnancy, up from 83.4 percent in 2001 and 75.8 percent in 1990.
Data
on births are based on information reported on birth certificates filed in
State vital statistics offices and reported to CDC through the National
Vital Statistics System. The report is available on CDC’s National
Center for Health Statistics Web
site.
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NOTE: All HHS press
releases, fact sheets, and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news
This page last reviewed October 06, 2006
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