2022 to 2023 Saw Decline in the Number, Rate of Births in United States

TUESDAY, Aug. 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- From 2022 to 2023, there was a decrease in the number and rate of births in the United States, according to an August data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Joyce A. Martin, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues present highlights from 2023 final birth data on key demographic and infant health indicators using data from the National Vital Statistics System.

The researchers found that from 2022 to 2023, there was a 2 percent decline in the number of births. In 2023, there was a 3 percent decline in the general fertility rate to 54.5 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 44 years. From 2022 to 2023, there were declines in birth rates for females ages 15 to 19, 15 to 17, and 18 to 19 years (4, 2, and 5 percent, respectively). From 2022 to 2023, there was a 1 percent decrease in the percentage of mothers receiving care in the first trimester of pregnancy, while a 5 percent increase was seen in the percentage of mothers with no prenatal care. The was no real change in the preterm birth rate, which was 10.41 percent in 2023; the rate of early-term births increased 2 percent to 29.84 percent.

"The percentage of women beginning care in the first trimester of pregnancy declined in 2023 and was down 3 percent from the most recent high in 2021; first-trimester care had been on the rise from 2016 to 2021," the authors write.

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