Births: Preliminary Data for 2009

Source: National Center for Health Statistics

The 2009 preliminary number of US births declined 3 percent from 2008, to 4,131,019; the 2009 general fertility rate (66.7 per 1,000 women) and the total fertility rate (2,007.5 births per 1,000) declined (3-4 percent). The number of births and rates declined for all race and Hispanic origin groups in 2009.

• The birth rate for US teenagers 15-19 fell 6 percent to 39.1 per 1,000, a record low for the Nation.

• Birth rates for younger and older teenagers and for Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander teenagers all reached historic lows in 2009.

• The birth rates for women in their early twenties fell (7 percent, the largest percentage decline for this age group since 1973) as did the rates for women in their late twenties and thirties; the birth rate for women in their early forties increased in 2009.

• The birth rate for unmarried women declined almost 4 percent to 50.6 per 1,000 aged 15-44. The number of nonmarital births fell 2 percent to 1,693,850 in 2009, the first decline since 1996-1997.

• The percentage of births to unmarried women, however, continued to increase in 2009

• The cesarean delivery rate rose to 32.9 percent in 2009, another record high.

• The preterm birth rate declined for the third straight year to 12.18 percent of all births.

• The low birthweight rate was essentially unchanged between 2008 and 2009 at 8.16 percent in 2009, but is down from 2006.