• Intro
• Teen Pregnancy
• STDs
• Low Birth Weight

Facts

• Despite the nation's progress in reducing teen pregnancy, about one third of teens get pregnant by age 20. ¹
• After 15 years of decreasing teen pregnancy rates, in 2006 that rate started to increase. ¹
• Teen childbearing costs taxpayers approximately $9.1 billion annually, $1.1 billion in Texas alone. ¹
• About one-third of girls in the United States get pregnant before age 20. ²
• In 2006, a total of 435,427 infants were born to mothers aged 15–19 years, a birth rate of 41.9 live births per 1,000 women in this age group. ²
• More than 80% of these births were unintended, meaning they occurred sooner than desired or were not wanted at any time. ³
• Although pregnancy and birth rates among girls aged 15–19 years have declined 34% since 1991, ²

• Lubbock County has the highest percentage of unplanned teen births of all the largest cities in the State of Texas. ⁴

How Often Does a Teenager in Texas Get Pregnant? ⁵

• Every 10 minutes, a teen in Texas gets pregnant.
• Every 10 hours, a 14-year-old teen gets pregnant.
• Every 3 hours, a 15-year-old teen gets pregnant.
• Every 1.5 hours, a 16-year-old teen gets pregnant.
• Every 52 minutes, a 17-year-old-teen gets pregnant.
• Every 35 minutes, an 18-year-old teen gets pregnant.
• Every 28 minutes, a 19-year-old teen gets pregnant.

Facts and Outcomes of Teen Pregnancy?

• Every 10 minutes a teen gives birth. ⁶
• Every 48 minutes a teen has an abortion. ⁶

• Seven percent of teen mothers receive late or no prenatal care. Babies born to teens are more likely to be low-birth-weight than are those born to women in their 20s and 30s. ⁷
• Teen mothers are now more likely than in the past to complete high school or obtain a GED, but they are still less likely than women who delay childbearing to go on to college. ⁷
• For those pregnant teens who choose to have an abortion, the reasons they gave most frequently were concern about how having a baby would change their lives, inability to afford a baby now and feeling insufficiently mature to raise a child.⁷
• A sexually active teen that does not use contraceptives has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year. ⁷
• Condom is the most common contraceptive method used at first intercourse; it was used by 66% of sexually experienced females and 71% of males. ⁷
• Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow all minors to consent to contraceptive services without a parent's involvement (as of August 2006). Two states (Texas and Utah) require parental consent for contraceptive services in state-funded family planning programs. ⁷
• Ninety percent of publicly funded family planning clinics counsel clients younger than 18 about abstinence and the importance of communicating with parents about sex. ⁷
• One in five teens whose parents do not know they obtain contraceptive services would continue to have sex but would either rely on withdrawal or not use any contraceptives if the law required that their parents be notified of their visit. ⁷
• The majority (59%) of sexually experienced teen females had a first sexual partner who was 1-3 years their senior. Only 8% had first partners who were six or more years older. ⁷

Sources:

1. http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/
2. Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ. Births: preliminary data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports 2007;56(7).
3. Chandra A, Martinez GM, Mosher WD, Abma JC, Jones J. Fertility, family planning, and reproductive health of U.S. women: data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. Vital Health Statistics 2005;23(25).
4. Texas Department of State Health Services & Texas Kids Count
5. http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/famplan/tpp.shtm#fact
6. http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/famplan/tpp.shtm#fact
7. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html

back to top