| Abstract: | OBJECTIVES: This report presents preliminary data for 2001 on births in the United States. U.S. data on births are shown by age, race, and Hispanic origin of mother. Data on marital status, prenatal care, cesarean delivery, and low birthweight are also presented. METHODS: Data in this report are based on more than 96 percent of births for 2001. The records are weighted to independent control counts of all births received in State vital statistics offices in 2001. Comparisons are made with 2000 final data. RESULTS: The number of births, the crude birth rate, and the fertility rate all declined slightly between 2000 and 2001. The number of births was down by less than 1 percent, the crude birth rate declined 1 percent to 14.5 per 1,000 population, and the fertility rate was down slightly to 67.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years. Teenagers were less likely to give birth in 2001; the teen birth rate continued to fall, dropping 5 percent between 2000 and 2001 to 45.9 births per 1,000 females aged 15-19 years, another record low. The teen birth rate has fallen 26 percent since 1991. The birth rate for teenagers 15-17 years fell 8 percent, and the rate for teenagers 18-19 years was down 4 percent for 2000-2001. Since 1991 rates have fallen 35 percent for teenagers 15-17 years, and 20 percent for teenagers 18-19 years. Birth rates for women aged 20-24 declined by 2 percent, whereas rates for women 25-44 years increased. Childbearing among women aged 40-54 years was stable. The birth rate for unmarried women decreased modestly to 44.9 births per 1,000 unmarried women 15-44 years in 2001, still remaining below the peak reached in 1994. The number of births to unmarried women was up very slightly, but births to unmarried teens were down. The proportion of women who began prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy improved slightly to 83.4 percent, but the rate of low birthweight held at 7.6 percent. The total cesarean delivery rate jumped 7 percent between 2000 and 2001 to 24.4 percent of all births, the highest level ever reported from this data source; the primary rate of cesarean deliveries rose 5 percent, and the rate of vaginal births after previous cesarean delivery tumbled 20 percent. |
