Kentucky lags U.S. in lowering teen birth rate

Hannah Watkins, a 17-year-old junior at Jefferson County Public Schools' South Park Teen Age Parent Program, said she’s glad to hear about the national trends. But she hopes to see fewer local teens wind up in a situation similar to hers - giving birth to her daughter, Abigail Macaione, just after turning 16.

"Teens don't need to be having babies," she said. "When you’re a kid having a kid, you're still trying to figure out things in life. You don’t have all the experience you need to take care of a child. My teenage life before I had her is gone. It’s Abby’s life now."

Lora Reinhardt, community health specialist at the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness, said there are some encouraging signs. For instance, Louisville’s teen birth rate has dropped from 50.6 in 2009 as state and national rates also dropped.

"It is a great sign that we are moving in the right direction,” she said. “But we still have to work hard in this area so that the rates hopefully continue to drop."

Sara York, principal at the teen parent program, said Kentucky’s persistent poverty is one of the big challenges to bringing down the state’s teen birth rate. A U.S. Census Bureau report from October 2011 found that 19 percent of Kentuckians lived in poverty in 2010, compared with 15.3 percent nationally. In wealthier regions, she said, there may be more opportunities for girls.

“There is a strong correlation between poverty and teen births,” York said. “That’s not to say everybody who gets pregnant lives in poverty, but the correlation is there. We are a state with many social and economic problems.”

U.S. trends encouraging

Thursday’s report says that, despite the precipitious drop in teen births nationally, the U.S. rates remain much higher than in other developed countries.

But it cited trends that could lead to a continuing decline.

Analyzing data from the National Survey of Family Growth, CDC researchers found that during 2006-2010, 57 percent of 15- to 19-year-old girls had never had vaginal intercourse, up from 49 percent in 1995. Younger teens, those 15 to 17, were more likely than older teens to have never had sex — 73 percent compared with 36 percent. Researchers found the proportion of teens who had never had sex did not differ by race or ethnicity.

Among teen girls who have had sex, about 60 percent reported currently using “highly effective” contraceptive methods such as intrauterine devices or birth control pills, up from 47 percent in 1995.

“This report shows we’re making progress on a hard issue that is hard to discuss and hard to attack,” Reinhardt said.

To reduce teen pregnancy further, researchers said teens should receive more counseling encouraging them to delay sexual activity. Among those who are already sexually active, researchers said there should be “culturally competent” counseling on the use of highly effective contraceptive methods — ideally along with condoms to reduce sexually transmitted diseases.