Teen-Age Births in U.S. Hit Highest Level in 15 Years

The number of teen-agers giving birth in the United States reached its highest level in 15 years, confounding family planning experts who have been trying without success to reverse the trend.

The report, released by the National Center for Health Statistics, said that 36 of every 1,000 young women between the ages of 15 and 17 gave birth in 1989. The figure is an 8% increase over the previous year for that age group and a 19% increase over 1986, when the number of births to teen-age women first began to climb.

The birth rate for older teens was even higher, although it increased by a slightly smaller 6%. Among 18- and 19-year-olds, 86 of every 1,000 women gave birth. The total number of babies born in the United States also rose sharply, climbing to its highest point since 1963 at 4.04 million in 1989--a 3% increase from a year earlier.

Births to unmarried women rose 9%, reaching 1.09 million in 1989, or 27% of all births that year, the report said. Births to teens accounted for more than 500,000, or 13%, of all babies born in 1989.

Major indicators of maternal and infant health care showed no improvement over the last decade, the report said. The percentage of mothers receiving prenatal care declined from 76% to 75%, remaining about the same since 1979.