Health & Parenting

Teen Birth Rates on the Rise

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The rate of babies born at low birth weight continued to rise, hitting 8.3 percent in 2006, the highest level in 40 years. The preterm birth rate also rose in 2006, to 12.8 percent of all births.

The proportion of all births to unmarried women reached 38.5 percent of all U.S. births in 2006, up from 36.9 percent in 2005.

Researchers say the numbers provide "important information on fertility patterns among American women, including age, live-birth order, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, and educational attainment.

"Up-to-date information on these fertility patterns is critical to understanding population growth and change in this country and in individual states," the authors say.