Another bump in teen pregnancy rates
It?s not much of a bump, but there is still a rise in teen pregnancies.
It’s not much of a bump, but there is still a rise in teen pregnancies.
Recently released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 42.5 out of every 1,000 US teen girls ages 15 to 19 gave birth in 2007. That per-thousand number was 41.9 in 2006, and 40.5 in 2005, its lowest since the statistic was recorded. Before that, it had been steadily declining for 15 years.
Jocelyn Elders, Surgeon General under President Clinton, was an advocate of sex education done in the name of reducing teen pregnancies. The teen pregnancy rate began its 15-year drop under her watch. At a press conference with four other Surgeons General in Florida on Wednesday, she reiterated her belief that improved sex education was needed to prevent adolescents from risky behavior.
More CDC information is available at the National Center for Health Statistics' report on the matter.
Having "the talk" with teen patients
June 17th 2022A visit with a pediatric clinician is an ideal time to ensure that a teenager knows the correct information, has the opportunity to make certain contraceptive choices, and instill the knowledge that the pediatric office is a safe place to come for help.
