Declines in teen pregnancies: What are the driving factors?

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Three in every 10 American girls get pregnant by the age of 20. However, national government and health experts expect these numbers to decrease with stringent legislative support and parental reinforcement. True enough, this optimism is becoming evident in recent years.

Although 16 states had a slight increase in teenage pregnancies between 2005 and 2008 from previous years, this is still considered an all-time low. While this information is from 2008 (the latest year for which comprehensive statistics are available), records suggest that, the downturn will generally continue several more years ahead.

Key factors driving the decade-long declines

Guttmacher Senior Researcher Laura Lindberg said: "It is now the norm for teens to use contraceptives at first sex, which creates a pattern of continued contraceptive use down the road. Additionally, teens increasingly use the most effective birth-control methods, including hormonal methods and long-acting contraceptive methods like the IUD. By contrast, there has been less change in teens' levels of sexual activity."

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Good news for teens

This recent declines are great news since teenage pregnancy can be considered high-risk in nature. Pregnancy experts, like Cristian Andronic and Michael R. Leb would agree that girls have the higher risk of having premature birth, low-birth-weight babies, and high blood pressure --- called pregnancy-induced hypertension. Avoiding early pregnancy means avoiding these risks, altogether.

With unity and cooperation, teenage pregnancy is a ‘battle’ that the entire society can win together.

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