Census Bureau Releases Updated Tables on Fertility

The U.S. Census Bureau released new tables and figures today using the 2014 Current Population Survey’s Fertility Supplement, which includes fertility and relationship data for women age 15 to 50. The tables include information on children ever born, rates of childlessness, and relationship status at first birth for women with selected demographic characteristics. In addition, the tables and figures show historical trends in fertility.

Highlights include:

·         Just under 60 percent of the roughly 75 million women age 15 to 50 in 2014 were mothers and had given birth to about 95 million children.

U.S. Women’s Use of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services; Recent Trends in Births and Fertility Rates

From Guttmacher Institute:

Seven in 10 U.S. women of reproductive age, some 43–45 million women, make at least one medical visit to obtain se
xual and reproductive health (SRH) services each year. Uninsured women are significantly less likely than either privately or Medicaid-insured women to receive SRH services. Approximately 25 million women receive contraceptive services annually.

The number of women having either a Pap test or pelvic exam each year fell from 41 million in 2002 to 39 million in 20
06–2010, consistent with recent changes in cervical cancer screening recommendations.

The number of women receiving STD testing, treatment or counseling each year doubled from 4.6 million in 1995 to 9.8 million in 2006–2010, reflecting both an increase in routine chlamydia screening now recommended for all sexually active women younger than age 25, as well as an increase in the reported incidence of chlamydia.

The number of women receiving any SRH service who went to a publicly funded clinic for that care rose from 7.3 million (17% of those receiving care) in 1995 to 10.2 million (23%) in 2006–2010, mirroring concurrent increases in the number of women in poverty and in need of publicly funded contraceptive services. Compared with women receiving services from private doctors, women going to publicly funded clinics received a wider range of SRH services and were more likely to have conversations about contraception during annual gynecologic visits.

From National Center for Health Statistics:

The provisional count of births in the United States for the 12-month period ending December 2012 was 3,958,000, essentially unchanged from the 3,953,593 births (preliminary total) for 2011. The trend in the number of births was down, having declined steadily from the historic high of 4,316,233 in 2007 through 2011 but slowing from 2010 to 2011, and is essentially flat from 2011 to 2012. The provisional fertility rate in the United States for 2012 was 63.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15–44, unchanged from the rate in 2011. Like the number of births, the trend in the fertility rate
was down, having declined steadily from the recent high of 69.3 in 2007 through 2010 but slowing from 2010 to 2011, and is unchanged from 2011 to 2012.

Social and Economic Characteristics of Currently Unmarried Women with a Recent Birth: 2011

The U.S. Census Bureau announced the release of Social and Economic Characteristics of Currently Unmarried Women with a Recent Birth: 2011. This report incorporates American Community Survey (ACS) estimates. As of 2011, 62 percent of women age 20 to 24 who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried, this compares with 17 percent among women age 35 to 39.

The ACS asks the question on fertility for a variety of reasons, including to help project the future size of the population and to carry out various programs required by law, such as researching matters on child welfare. The analysis is based on separate survey questions on whether women have given birth to any children in the past 12 months and what their marital status is. The statistics in the report are presented at the national and state levels, with a separate table and map containing metropolitan area data.

"This is the first report from the Census Bureau showing geographic variation in recent births to unmarried women, as well as characteristics of the women such as educational attainment," said Rose Kreider, a family demographer with the Census Bureau and one of the report's authors. "The American Community Survey is the nation's exclusive source of data on the demographic characteristics of mothers with this level of geographic detail."

The ACS provides reliable statistics that are indispensable to anyone who has to make informed decisions about the future. These statistics are required by all levels of government to manage or evaluate a wide range of programs, but are also useful for research, education, journalism, business and advocacy. If you have questions about this survey, please call our Customer Services Center on 1 (800) 923-8282.

Cesarean Rates for Your Local Hospital

From Our Real Village:

Expecting women are encouraged to investigate area hospitals before choosing where to birth. Sounds simple enough but the information is rarely readily available. A handful of great resources currently exist that made significant progress in gathering this information, the OurBodies blog, the Unnecessarean, and the Birth Survey. This article offers expecting families and birth professionals a comprehensive list of resources to find c-section information by hospital across America.

Here are the New York State statistics on Hospital Maternity-Related Procedures and Practices Statistics.

Childbearing

A couple PDF reports from the National Center for Health Statistics

Childbearing Differences Among Three Generations of U.S. Women
Transitions Between Childlessness and First Birth: Three Generations of U.S. Women

Complicating Conditions of Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2008

From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [PDF]

Complications during pregnancy can pose a serious risk to both maternal and infant health, and are associated with various adverse outcomes, including miscarriage, hemorrhage, preterm labor, and low birth weight. An objective of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Healthy People 2020 is to reduce maternal illness and complications related to pregnancy during hospitalization for labor and delivery.
This Statistical Brief presents data...