{"id":225,"date":"2012-08-05T20:10:31","date_gmt":"2012-08-05T20:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/inside-nchs\/?p=225"},"modified":"2022-10-31T20:29:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T20:29:08","slug":"ask-the-expert-dr-brady-hamilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/2012\/08\/05\/225\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the Expert: Dr. Brady Hamilton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Data Brief 89, \u201cBirth Rates for U.S. Teenagers Reach Historic Lows for All Age and Ethnic Groups<\/a>,\u201d published in April 2012, is available for download from the NCHS website. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Birth rates for U.S. teenagers have reached historic lows for all age and ethnic groups, according to a recent NCHS Data Brief<\/em>.\u00a0 We spoke with Brady Hamilton, Ph.D., one of NCHS\u2019s natality experts, about tracking teen births, what\u2019s new in the report, and a surprising trend.<\/p>\n

How long have you been keeping track of births among U.S. teenagers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve tracked births by age of the mother for quite some time.\u00a0 We look at birth data for all ages, not just teens.\u00a0 It gives us a very detailed picture of what\u2019s happening in the country in terms of fertility and childbearing patterns.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of interest in births to teens because it is a crucial time in their lives.\u00a0 They\u2019re preparing to enter the work force and\/or continue with their education.\u00a0 And that, of course, can have a substantial impact on the country as a whole.<\/p>\n

Where do the data come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The data come from state birth certificates, which tell us a lot\u2014age of mother, gestational age, birth weight, smoking patterns of the mother, and so on.\u00a0 What the data from birth certificates does not tell us, of course, is why.\u00a0 What were the parents thinking?\u00a0 What decisions were they making, or not?\u00a0 For that, we rely on the National Survey of Family Growth.\u00a0 We also count on that for information on contraceptive use and changes in sexual behavior.<\/p>\n

This latest data brief on teen births includes information you\u2019ve never included before.\u00a0 Can you describe it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We included a couple of new things.\u00a0 First, we\u2019ve provided a detailed geographical breakdown, state by state, of teen birth rates.\u00a0 This was in response to regional interest in teen birth data, and has been welcomed by state officials as well as the general public.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also been able to turn the abstract into the concrete, and project the births to teens that did not occur.\u00a0 If teens had continued to give birth at 1991 rates, there would be an estimated 3.4 million additional total births to teenagers from 1992 through 2010.<\/p>\n

What agencies do you collaborate with in creating these reports?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First and foremost, we work with the states, independent reporting areas, and U.S. territories to collect birth certificate data and produce the national statistics. \u00a0Their state data are the source of our national data.\u00a0 We also work with a number of other federal agencies, in particular the U.S. Census Bureau, which provides us with the populations used to compute the birth and fertility rates in our reports.<\/p>\n

Any new trends you\u2019d like to let us in on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the one to watch is the cesarean delivery rate.\u00a0 Currently, about a third of all births in the United States are delivered by cesarean.\u00a0 That is astounding.\u00a0 Cesarean delivery rate had been rising steadily from 1996, when about a fifth of births were delivered by cesarean.\u00a0 However, in 2010 the cesarean delivery rate declined for the first time since 1996.\u00a0 That is noteworthy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr. Hamilton will discuss \u201cResults of the 2010 Census: Impact on Trends and Variations in Population and Health Statistics\u201d at the National Conference on Health Statistics, Tuesday, August 7, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.\u00a0 Visit the Conference page<\/a> to register.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Data Brief 89, \u201cBirth Rates for U.S. Teenagers Reach Historic Lows for All Age and Ethnic Groups,\u201d published in April 2012, is available for download from the NCHS website.   Birth rates for U.S. teenagers have reached historic lows for all age and ethnic groups, according to a recent NCHS Data Brief.\u00a0 We spoke with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53669,50790],"tags":[53676,47309,28902],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions\/259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/nchs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}