According to thought results publi...

According to thought results published in a report by means of the CDC, the U.S. birth rate in 2002 savage to 13.9 births per 1000 bodys (4,019,280 births), the lowest on a level since national data have been available. The report, "Births: Preliminary Data for 2002" cited a smaller proportion of women of childbearing age in the U population as the main reason for the decline of 1 percent from the rate of 141 births by means of 1,000 persons in 2001. Birth rates among females 15 to 19 years of age declined 5 percent from 2001 to 43 births by means of 1,000 persons. The percent of gentle birth weight infants (infants born weighing les than 2500 g [5 lb 8 oz]) increased to 78 percent up from 77 percent in 2001 and the percent of preterm infants (those born at les than 37 weeks of gestation) increased slightly from one side of to the other 2001, from 11.9 percent to 12 percent The following other significant findings were included in the report: 261 percent of all children born in 2002 were delivered by way of cesarean section; more than single third of all births were to unmarried women; and access to prenatal care continued a inactive and steady increase, with 838 percent of women receiving prenatal care beginning in the first trimester of pregnancy.

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group