Jan 8, 2009 6:00 pm US/Eastern
Health: Teen Pregnancy On The Rise
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Children having children -- new federal health statistics show teen birth rates are up for the first time in over a decade.
A growing number of teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are having babies, according to the new research there's been a significant increase in teen births in 26 states.
Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol got pregnant when she was 17, having the baby just weeks ago.
Jamie Lynn Spears made headlines at 16, not for her acting, but the grown up real life role of becoming a teen mom. Unlike the comedy "Juno", there's nothing funny about the nation's growing number of teenage mothers.
"If it appears that having a baby is an acceptable thing to do, would you be less likely to use birth control or have unprotected sex, you might be," said Dorothy Mann, Family Planning Council.
"We've got a problem nationally, that we've got a problem in nearly every state and that we have a problem among all racial and ethnic groups," said Bill Albert, National Teen Pregnancy Campaign.
Locally, teen births in New Jersey are up 6 percent, rates haven't changed in Pennsylvania or Delaware.
"We are doing better than the vast majority of states and cities," said Mann.
Dorothy Mann is with the Family Planning Council that runs a teen pregnancy prevention program in 13 Philadelphia high schools.
Health resource centers provide confidential counseling and education that includes birth control.
"This is all about kids getting access to better methods of birth control, emergency contraceptives and longer acting methods where they don't have to take a pill every day and in fact hearing the messages about using condoms and not having unprotected sex," said Mann.
She says if there were more school based prevention programs the teen birth rate trend could be reversed. By the way, Mississippi now leads the nation with the highest teen pregnancy rate. New Hampshire has the lowest.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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