Birth Statistics

Consider the most recent statistics available from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

• In 2007, 4,317,119 babies were born in the US.

• The mean age for women having their first baby in 2007 is 25 years, compared with 25.2 in 2003.

• Birth rates for women 35 to 39 (47.5 births per 1,000 women) and 40 to 44 (9.5 births per 1,000 women) were the highest in four decades.

• The birth rate for teenagers ages 15 to 19 years increased 5 percent since 2005. The current rate for this age group is 42.5 per 1,000 births.

• In 2006, the twin birth rate was 32.5 twin births per 1,000 women.

• The preterm birth rate (less than 37 weeks in the womb) was 12.7 percent in 2007.

• Cesarean deliveries accounted for 31.8 percent of all births in 2007, an increase of over 50 percent in the past decade.