(Rolling Out) — Teen pregnancy rates, which once warranted national conversation, are the lowest they have been in the past 20 years. Shows like “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant” have helped keep the topic on the social forefront, and the attention tactic appears to be working. In 2009, around 410,000 teenage girls, ages 15 to 19, gave birth in the United States. That’s a 37 percent decrease from the teen birth rate in previous years. In a press release attached to the new Vital Signs Report, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the CDC, wrote that, despite the steady reduction in teen pregnancies over the last two decades, “still far too many teens are having babies.” Approximately 1,100 teenage girls give birth every day with the majority being of Hispanic and African American backgrounds.
