In a special report by Medical Xpress on Feb. 11, the are reporting that teen pregnancy in the United States is at an all time record low. Consequently, babies born with low birth weight are also down because the two often go hand in hand.
Dr. Jill Rabin, chief of ambulatory care for obstetrics and gynecology at the Jewish Medical Center in Long Island says that there are several things that she feels have attributed to the lower rate of teen pregnancy. Schools have begun to preach safe sex over abstinence which rarely works for hormone driven teens. Dr. Rabin sites that most teens seem to think that they are invincible, infertile, and immortal. They don't realize that none of these things are true until they become pregnant.
According to the report provided by the CDC, births to teen mothers is now only 31.9 of every 1,000 girls aged 11-19 in 2011, down from 61.8 in 2006. This is an amazing decrease as it seems that teens are finally learning the struggles presented to unwed, young mothers when they have a baby while still in high school. Wider availability of contraceptives to teens has also likely decreased the birth rate as well.
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