What Is Behind The Decline In New York Teen Childbirth Rates?

Pregnancy prevention messages and programs, as well as various contraceptives have been linked to decrease in rates of teen pregnancy in New York. Thanks to the massive efforts of different sectors, organizations and communities, parents and the government can now revel with this good news.

In 2000, unplanned pregnancies in the city of New York have increased, according to CityLimts. But now something really good happened. CityLimits actually claimed that unplanned pregnancies rate drops to 57 percent in raw numbers and 53 percent when measured as teen births, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene or DOHMH of the city noted.

In 2011, an average of 329,797 offspring were born to teenage females ages 15 to19 in America or that is a rate of 31.3 childbirths for every 1,000 female minors, as per Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 1991 and 2008, the rate of teen births has dropped gradually in a total of around 2.5 percent annually, CNN reported.

The report continued that in the past four years, it has dropped even more steadily in a rate of almost 7.5 percent for every year. The decline is no accident. In fact, experts credited the descent to pregnancy prevention messages and programs directed to teenagers, as well as contraceptives, according to Pew Research Center.

A Brookings report discovered that the programs of Music Television (MTV) such as "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant," both reality shows depicted the struggles of teenager moms, have reportedly cited as one of the reasons teen childbirths declined from June 2009, Based on the report, the year 2009 was when the shows started to air, up to the final times of 2010.

"The short answer is that it is a combination of less sex and more contraception. Teenagers have a greater number of methods of contraceptives to choose from," The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy chief program officer Bill Albert said to HealthLand.Time. "When we look at the menu of proven programs, programs that have been shown to actually move the needle, that number has grown over the last years, and to the credit of the federal government, they have invested in it."