CDC Finds 1/3 of Teen Mothers Didn’t Think They Could Get Pregnant

January 19th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

In a survey of nearly 5,000 teenage girls in 19 states who had unplanned pregnancies between 2004 through 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about one-third of the girls didn’t use birth control because they didn’t believe they could get pregnant.

The CDC didn’t ask these teens to explain why they didn’t think they could get pregnant but the finding is certainly a slap in the face of sex education programs. Some common reasons teens give for why they didn’t think they could get pregnant is that it was their first time, they were menstruating, or they thought they were sterile.

Nearly half of the girls in the survey said they weren’t using any birth control when they got pregnant which is higher than surveys of teens in general. Typically, fewer than 20% say they didn’t use contraception the last time they had sex.

Access to birth control wasn’t a huge deterrent, only 13% of the girls said they didn’t use birth control because they had trouble getting it. Nearly 25% said they didn’t use protection because their partner didn’t want them to. Researchers say this fact illustrates the need for sex education classes to also share solutions for girls who feel pressured into doing something they don’t want to do.

Because the teen birth rate is at its lowest point in 70 years, Bill Albert, a spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, says  it would be a mistake to come away from the report thinking, “They can’t figure this out?” He said”most of them are figuring it out,” but are they figuring it out fast enough?

Why do you think these same myths about the inability to get pregnant still follow teens?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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  • Torontochick

    lmao

    Abstinence-only education does not work. Not all teen girls are going to be smart enough to buy Teen People like I did.

  • Smacks_hoes

    The only 100% way not to get pregnant is not to do it. Ik is hard telling a teenager not to have sex. I just got out of my teens and ik the pressure I was under in highschool. You wanted to please the guy that you really liked yada yada. I was tempted on many occasions to have sex but I new the risk and I wasn’t prepared to come home and see the look on my parents face when I had to tell them I was pregnant. I just couldn’t do it. Instead I abstained. I rarely dated because I felt the guys weren’t on my level so I’m sure that helped. My decision to not have sex was definately the best decision I’ve ever made. I mean I’m only 20 and being a virgin sets me apart from most of the young women my age. 80% of my highschool class has one kid already and some on their second. I couldn’t imagine. I’m proud of my decision and when that time comes for me to have sex I’ll be ready and mature enough to handel the consequences. I said all that to say that we should promote abstainance 1st then condumns and other options later. I just Dnt feel a 16 year old girl is ready to properly take care of a child at that age, and no young man Is ready to be a father at that age.

  • MixedUpInVegas

    Teenagers get pregnant because they share their ignorance with their equally uninformed friends instead of getting the straight facts from someone who knows–ideally, their mothers.  Every mother should be talking to their daughters about how adult women take care of themselves, and one of those things is how a woman controls her fertility.  Having done it myself, I admit that it is difficult to do, but it opens the door to honest communication with your child.

    Our job as mothers is to prepare our daughters to be women.  Dealing with our sexuality and fertility are part of what every adult woman must do. A woman who is pregnant at an inopportune time can get her whole life path derailed.   Better they have the true facts than to listen to their dumb friends who don’t know any more than they do.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003085266535 Courtney Small

    Just when you thought the youth of today couldn’t get any stupider. 

  • Torontochick

    Just lol.

  • Phoenix Reign

    Oh the teens today are extremely stupid is the problem…I got pregnant at 16 and knew EXACTLY the consequence, first time or not however I didn’t get pregnant on my first time. My issue ran deeper though but this is not about me. They need all the proper education in the world and Pregnant at 16 and Teen Mom is not it!!! I hate that show and shows like it.

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  • Toya Sharee

    I work with many of these teens everyday teaching sex-ed and teen parenting classes and I can vouch for the fact that this survey hit the nail on the head.  Many teens believe that they cannot get pregnant because it was their first time, and when it comes to menstruation and ovulation, many of them don’t understand how the whole process works, so they have no idea how sex plays a part in all of it.  Even the teens that are on birth control, often don’t have a true understanding of exactly what it means when I say no birth control is 100% effective except for abstinence.  They don’t know the difference between typical use and perfect use to grasp that 99.7% effective still does not mean 100%.  

    Unfortunately the problem goes deeper than sex; many of the teens I encounter lack the necessary communication skills and confidence to initiate talks about birth control and sexual history with partners, parents and even professionals who can help.  There’s a lot of sex happening with literally NO communication, and that’s a problem that starts way before biology class.  Even in a hyper-sexualized society and media there are lots of sexual imagery and references with no real explanation of the facts and consequences.  As sexually liberated as we like to think we are in the USA, many of us still cringe and bite our tongues when think about teens and sexuality. So while I think teens are responsible for  their own choices and behavior, I’m not so surprised that many are still badly misinformed about sex, because in many ways we as a society aren’t offering enough guidance to resources that will help them.

  • Ms_Sunshine9898

    you either wanna get pregnant or you don’t. if you don’t wanna get pregnant as a teen having sex, then you will take the initiative to find out everything you can to prevent this rather than taking a blind faith leap that everything will be ok.  it’s too easy. . . 

    • Tona

      Right. Today’s teens now the deal.