Between 2017 and 2018 the general fertility rate dropped 2% among girls and women aged 15-44 nationwide; the total fertility rate continues to drop below what is needed for the population to replace itself according to another study published in the National Center for Health Statistics.
According to a report published by the National Center for Health Statistics showing the number of births dropped last year to its lowest levels in about 30 years, America has been experiencing a nationwide decline in fertility rates and number of births in recent years.
Birth certificate data from the National Vital Statistics System’s Natality Data File was examined for births among women in 2018; when examined by race data showed that fertility rates had declined by 2% for white and black women, and by 3% for Hispanic women between 2017-2018.
Although not necessarily a bad thing in itself, teen birth rates for the ages of 15-19 dropped by 7%, when examined by race data showed teen births declined by 4% for black teenagers, and by 8% for white and Hispanic teenagers.
The percentage of births delivered at less than full term was found to have increased, with preterm births climbing from 9.93% in 2017 to 10.2% in 2018, and early term births were found to increase from 26% to 26.53% in 2018 among all births.
Percentages of births delivered at full, late and post term was found to have declined: full term births decreased from 57.49% in 2017 to 57.24% in 2018, and post term births decreased from 6.58% in 2017 to 6.2% in 2018.
According to Dr. Rahul Gupta of the March of Dimes, “The continuing shift toward increased maternal age at first birth is something that does increase the risk. However, it does not fully explain the increase in the preterm birth rate. So that’s one of the challenges here, I think, for the nation,” he said. “There is a lot more work that needs to be done as the preterm birth rate continues to rise.”
