The latest statistics released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that a growing number of teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are having babies. The number of teen pregnancies in the U.S. is on the rise, with Mississippi jumping to the first place. According to the report, Mississippi’s teen pregnancy rate was 60% higher than the 2006 national average. The same rate in Texas and New Mexico was almost 50 % higher. The lowest rates were in the Northeast. New Hampshire had the fewest teen births with 18.7 per 1,000. Vermont, with 20.8 per 1,000, and Massachusetts, with 21.3 per 1,000, were also low.

 

After falling steadily for more than a decade, the birth rate for American teenagers jumped in 2006 for the first time since 1991, a previous report released by the CDC showed. The number of births to single mothers jumped nearly 8 percent, from 1.52 million in 2005 to 1.64 million in 2006. The birth rate attributed to non-married couples rose 3 percent from 47.5 births per 1,000 unmarried women aged 15 to 44, to 50.6 per 1,000 women.

 

Experts say the increase may be attributed to the similar phenomenon observed in the world of movie stars, Hollywood stars and even political stars. High-profile unmarried teens make the headlines, which makes childbearing outside of marriage more socially acceptable or even desirable.

 

On the other hand, some blame the abstinence programs, because they do not provide information about contraceptives. Experts, however, say it is too soon to know whether the increase is the beginning of a trend.