Birth Rates
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

In 2006, the teen birth rate in the United State rose for the first time in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The rise in teen birth rates includes:

-       No increase for girls ages 10-14

-       3 percent rise for teens ages 15-17, and

-       4 percent rise for teens ages 18-19,

Other birth facts:

-      Around 4.3 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2006. A 3 percent increase from 2005 and the largest single-year increase in the past 20 years.

-      Birth rates rose for women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s as well.

-      Births to unmarried women reached a record high of more than 1.6 million babies, a jump of nearly 8 percent over 2005, and

-      Almost a third of babies born in the U.S. last year were delivered by cesarean section.

  For North Mississippi Medical Center, I’m Dr. Ken Davis.