Teen Pregnancy in Rhode Island: Policies to Improve Outcomes

摘要

The United States has one of the highestrates of teen pregnancy among industrializedcountries, with more than750,000 pregnancies each year amongwomen less than 20 years of age.1 Thoughteen pregnancy rates in the US had declinedeach year since 1991, the mostrecent national data show that rates ofteen pregnancy, abortion, and birth areon the rise.1 Rhode Island has 2,430 teenpregnancies per year, the highest prevalenceamong the New England states. InRhode Island, 51% of these pregnanciesresult in live births and 35% in abortion.2Rates of teen pregnancy in Rhode Islandvary by region: the highest rates from2003-2007 were seen in CentralFalls (95.5 births per 1,000 teens), followedby Woonsocket (65.2 births per1,000 teens), Pawtucket (58.7 births per1,000 teens), and Providence (48.0 birthsper 1,000 teens).