Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Nueces County teen age birth rate drops 70% over two years

( the public health spokeswoman says they teach 'abstinence first' but offer contraception when solicited. the drop is from 52 births per 1000 15 to 19 year olds in 2006, to 39 in 2007 to 15 = 70% drop. what's going on? It's too early to celebrate the effectiveness of 'abstinence only' education, as its not clear from the article if that is what is actually being used [there is also no mention of the teenage abortion rate])

from the 21 September 09 Corpus Christi Caller Times>>>....Also of note, the rate of births to teenage mothers in the Corpus Christi area has dropped significantly in the past three years.
In 2008, there were 15 births for every 1,000 females age 15 to 19. That number dropped from 39 in 2007 and 52 in 2006. The average is 29 in the United States and 44 in Texas.
Dolores Arispe, a registered nurse at the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District, said the Census numbers bear out what local health officials are seeing — fewer pregnancy tests and pregnancies among teens.
The public health district visits local schools to teach abstinence and offers family planning for those who come to the district offices.
“We take the stance of abstinence first and also let them know about other types of services that we might have here for some of the teens,” Arispe said. “It takes time, but I think it’s working as you can see the numbers going down.”>>>>>>





http://www.caller.com/news/2009/sep/21/one-in-five-area-residents-without-health-care/





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