According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the teen birth rate increased in more than half of all states in 2006. Back in December 2007, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the teen birth rate for the entire nation had increased for the first time in 15 years in 2006 -- from 40.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 in 2005 to 41.9 in 2006.

However in a very recent report released Wednesday a state-by-state teen birth rate statistics based on all birth certificates issued in 2006 is included. Therefore Mississippi had the highest teen birth rate, with 68.4 births reported per 1,000 girls aged 15-19, according to the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New Mexico and Texas finished second, respectively third in rate of increase. New Mexico reported a birth rate of 64.1 and Texas 63.1.

"To see 26 states with statistically significant increases is fairly remarkable," says Paul Sutton, a demographer with the National Center for Health Statistics, which released the data. "We're seeing increases in both the number of teens having births and also the rate at which they are having births. Both of them are going up."

Still, the lowest teen birth rates continue to be in New England. Teen birth rates in 2006 were lowest in the Northeast, with the lowest rates occurring in New Hampshire at 18.7 per 1,000 women, Vermont 20.8 per 1,000 and Massachusetts per 1,000 21.3.

Some experts are blaming the higher teen pregnancy rates on increased federal funding for abstinence-only education.