PORTLAND — Maine was among the states that experienced significant decreases in teenage birth rates between 2007 and 2009, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control.
In Maine, the rate for 18- and 19-year-old women fell 19.6 percent – the fourth largest decrease in the nation. The rate fell from 55.2 births per 1,000 women in that age group to 44.4.
Nationally, the birth rate for that age group fell 10.4 percent, from 73.9 births per 1,000 women in the age group to 66.2.
For 15- to 17-year-old women in Maine, the rate rose from 9.4 births per 1,000 women in the age group to 10 – a change that the CDC deemed not statistically significant. Nationally, the rate for that age group fell 9 percent, from 22.1 births per 1,000 women in the age group to 20.1.
The national teen birth rate fell by more than one-third from 1991 through 2005. In the next two years, the rate increased 5 percent but the new data indicate the long-term downward trend has resumed.
The teenage birth rate reached its historic high in 1957, when there were 96.3 births per 1,000 women in the 15- to 19-year-old age group.
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