User talk:Coxshealth410

Teen Pregnancy. Here are some things teens are talking about when it comes to teen pregnancy. These are some listed opinions about teen pregnancy and some statistics to consider.

'''Teens Tell All about... Contraception/Birth Control'''

•	Some teens don't use birth control because they don't think that they will get pregnant or they don't care if they do. •	They might not want their parents to find out what they are doing. If they bought condoms or the pill, there could be a chance of them being caught. •	They may be afraid to go to a doctor to get it. Plus some teens can't drive and if they don't want their parents to find out, then they just won't get it. •	Many teens today really and truthfully do not care about using birth control. I think maybe some of them want to get pregnant on purpose. •	Getting birth control can be expensive and hard to get for many teens. I think there should be free birth control centers all over where teens can pick them up for free without anyone knowing who they are. •	Teens simply don't think before they act and don't look at consequences. This doesn't happen only with sex, but in all aspects of a teen's life. •	Sometimes teens don't use birth control because of the influence of drugs or alcohol. When they are drunk, some teens don't even know what they are doing. •	I think that most pregnancies aren't planned. They just happen, you know. I guess they're just thinking about, at that moment, like, pleasing each other. They aren't thinking about a baby coming. •	I'm on the pill, but I'm really bad at taking it. It's hard to handle. You got to turn the thing and push it and I am not into that. So, sometimes I'll forget to take the pill and I'll go, "Oh, my god. It's been, like, three days!" •	I think condoms and all that stuff should be more readily available. A lot of people won't have a way to get to the health department to get all this free stuff. I think they should be allowed to hand it out at school. http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/teens/voices/contrace.asp

Teens Tell All •	Many teens who have sex either don't use contraception at all or use it inconsistently. Nearly one-third of teen girls used no contraception the last time they had sex. •	Teens are much more likely to have unplanned and unprotected sex when they are using alcohol or drugs. You know drugs and alcohol change your perspective and that they can cause you to make really bad decisions about sex. Using alcohol, cigarettes, and/or illicit drugs significantly increases the likelihood that boys and girls will begin having sexual intercourse before age 16. Teens 15 and older who drink are seven times likelier to have sexual intercourse and twice as likely to have it with four or more partners than non-drinking teens. More than one-half of teens (53%) say the main reason teens do not use protection is because of drinking or using drugs. •	Many teens feel pressure not to use protection. More than one-half of teens (52%) surveyed recently said that one of the main reasons that teens do not use birth control is because their partners don't want to. •	The younger teens are, the less likely they are to use contraception or to use it effectively. •	Teaching teens about contraception does not make them have sex. Research is clear on this point: sex education does not increase sexual activity. In fact, in some cases, teaching teens about contraception seems to delay their sexual activity.

“If you are mature enough to have sex, then you should be mature enough to use protection.” - Jonathan, Santa Fe, 17

“The way I look at it, birth control has saved my life. Every time I have sex I use it. I'm very careful because I can't imagine having a baby right now. I'm just glad that I learned about birth control in school because not having sex just isn't realistic. - Tania, Newport News, 16

“We talked about sex and birth control way before we started having sex. We always use two forms of protection every time we have sex just in case one fails. And it does happen.” - Josh, Pittsburgh, 18

“I have three kids and am 17. I worry about it still because I don't want anymore kids. I make sure I use the protection I need now. I wish I could show teens how hard it is. I don't want to see anyone go through what I have at my age.” - Jen, Boston, 17 http://www.stayteen.org/avoid/contraception_teens.html

Survey says…

Teens aged 12-17 say their role models for “healthy relationships” are: friends 31% and parents 30%. Friends more than parents. Doesn’t this seem like a problem?? What are parents teaching their kids??1

52% of teens aged 12-17 say the best age to start talking about sex is 13-14. Don’t you think that’s a little young to be a parent??

However…85% of teens aged 12-17 have not felt pressured into romantic relationships. So this means they are making the choice to have sex willingly, which may mean they WANT to have sex!! But do they WANT a baby?? http://www.stayteen.org/relationships/kissandtell1.html

From the CDC: National Center for Health Statistics 2005 Data:

Number of live births to 15-19 year olds: 414,593

Birth rate for 15-19 year olds: 40.5 live births per 1,000 population

Number of births, birth rates, fertility rates, and birth rates for teenagers 15-19 years, by age of mother, United States, each State and territory

Medline Plus: National Institutes of Health (2007)

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 5 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time in 14 years, the number of teenagers having babies in the United States rose last year, according to a new government report released Wednesday.

That startling news was accompanied by additional data showing that last year also had record high rates for unmarried women having babies as well as for Caesarean deliveries.

The findings are in preliminary birth statistics compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and were based on 99 percent of all births in 2006.

"The finding on teen pregnancy was a surprise," said Stephanie Ventura, head of the CDC's Reproductive Statistics Branch. "Even though the rate of decline had slowed down, we didn't expect an increase."

She added, "It's too soon to say if the increased birth rate among teens is a trend. It could be just a one-year blip, or the start of a turning point."

While the exact cause for the teen birth rate rise remains unclear, Ventura thinks that the increase may be partly a result of not reaching hard-to-reach teens, "teens that need more encouragement," she said.

In addition, Ventura said she thought that there may be more risk-taking among teens or changes in attitudes.

And she noted, "This will be a jolt to groups involved in teen pregnancy prevention."

"Any increase in teen pregnancy and teen births is significant and a cause for real concern," said Bill Albert, the deputy director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "I wouldn't call it a trend, but it's an alarming wakeup call," he added.

Albert also thinks the increase in teen pregnancy is partly due to waning attention to the problem. "When you have a difficult social problem like teen pregnancy, it requires constant attention," he said. "The focus on teen pregnancy and teen births has lessened, because the news has been so consistently good since 1991."

Between 2005 and 2006, the birth rate for girls 15 to 19 rose 3 percent, from 40.5 births per 1,000 in 2005 to 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006. This comes after 14 years of declining rates. During that time, teen births dropped 34 percent from a peak of 61.8 births per 1,000 in 1991, according to the report.

The biggest increases for 2006 were among black teens, where the rate rose 5 percent, followed by 4 percent for American-Indian teens, 3 percent for white teens and 2 percent for Hispanic teens.

However, the birth rate continued to drop for girls 10 to 14 years old. The birth rate in this group dropped from 0.7 to 0.6 per 1,000, and the number of births fell 5 percent to 6,405, the CDC reported.

For girls 18 to 19 years old, the rate of births is more than three times higher, at 73 births per 1,000, than the rate for teens 15 to 17, at 22 per 1,000. Among teens in the latter group, the birth rate rose 3 percent between 2005 and 2006. For teens 18 and 19, the birth rate rose 4 percent during the same year.

In addition, births among unmarried women were at a record high in 2006. Births to unmarried mothers increased almost 8 percent to 1,641,700 in 2006. This was a 20 percent increase from 2002, when the trend of increased births among unmarried women started. The largest increase, 10 percent, was among women 25 to 29, according to the report.

Overall, the birth rate among unmarried women rose from 47.5 births per 1,000 in 2005 to 50.6 per 1,000 in 2006. That's a 7 percent increase in one year and a 16 percent increase since 2002, the report said.

Moreover, births to unmarried mothers increased to 38.5 percent, from 36.9 percent in 2005.

Other findings in the annual report include:

Caesarean deliveries rose 3 percent in 2006, to a new high of 31.1 percent of all births. In the last 10 years, the number of Cesarean deliveries has increased 50 percent. Total births in the U.S. rose 3 percent in 2006 to 4,265,996, a 3 percent increase from 2005. Birth rates also increased among women in their 20s, 30s and early 40ss. Preterm birth rates rose from 12.7 percent to 12.8 percent between 2005 and 2006. Babies delivered before 37 weeks have risen 21 percent since 1990. The percent of low birthweight infants rose from 8.2 in 2005 to 8.3 in 2006. The rate has increased 19 percent since 1990. The increased birth rate has increased the total fertility rate, which is an estimate of the average number of births that a group of women have over their lifetime. This rate increased 2 percent in 2006, to 2,101 births per 1,000 women. The rate is the highest since 1971, the first time since that year that the fertility rate was above "replacement" -- the level at which a given generation can replace itself.