The teen pregnancy rate in the United States has hit a historic low. A new report by the National Center for Health Statistics finds the number of teen pregnancies dropping 40 percent between 1990 and 2008.
The report cites the pregnancy rate in 2008 as the lowest since 1976. The overall declines are reflected in significant decreases in the number of live births and induced abortions between 1990 and 2008.
And pregnancy rates for women in their early 20's also dropped to the lowest level in more than thirty years.
Researchers say it appears less teenagers are having sex or waiting longer, and those who are sexually active are more apt to use contraception.
"The message should be delay sex until… whatever the parents and the communities' values are. The second thing that is really going well now is a trend toward long-acting reversible contraceptives. That's things like Depo-Provera- the shot. IUD's and IUS'," said pediatrician Ellen Rome of Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital.
The report can be found on the Centers for Disease Control's website at www.cdc.gov.
