National Center for Health Statistics
U.S. Births Break Baby Boom Record

4,317,119 births topped a record set in 1957 at the height of the baby boom.

More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than in any other year in American history, according to data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. The 4,317,000 births in 2007 edged out the figure for 1957, at the height of the baby boom. The new statistics also reveal that the U.S. teen birth rate increased in 2007 for the second straight year.

The findings are published in the report, “Births: Preliminary Data for 2007,” based on analysis of nearly 99% of birth records reported to 50 states and the District of Columbia as part of the National Vital Statistics System.

The report shows that the birth rate for teens increased 1% between 2006 and 2007, from 41.9 births per 1,000 females aged 15-19 years in 2006 to 42.5 in 2007. Birth rates increased for women in their teens, twenties, thirties, and forties.

In contrast with the culturally transforming postwar baby boom, when a smaller population of women bore an average of three or four children, the recent increase mainly reflects a larger population of women of childbearing age, said Stephanie J. Ventura, chief of reproductive statistics at the center and an author of the new report. In short, today, the average woman has 2.1 children, but there are many more women having babies.

The increase also shows a record share of births to unmarried women. In 2007, for the second straight year and in a trend health officials find worrisome, the rate of births to teenagers rose after declining by one-third from 1991 to 2005. “The 14 years with teenage birth rates going down was one of the great success stories in public health, and it’s possible that it’s coming to an end,” said Sarah S. Brown, chief executive of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, a private group in Washington.

Even at the low point in 2005, the United States had the highest rates of teenage pregnancy, births and abortions of any industrialized nation. Because teenage births carry higher risks of medical problems and poverty for mother and child, state health agencies and private groups have mounted educational campaigns to deter teenage pregnancy.
The report found:

• The total number of births rose in 2007 to 4,317,119, the highest number of births ever
  registered in the United States.
• The U.S. fertility rate increased 1% in 2007, to 69.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15-
  44 years, the highest level since 1990.Non-marital births increased to historic levels in 2007, as the total number of births, birth rate, and proportion of births to unmarried women all increased between 3% and 5% from 2006 and 2007.
• An estimated 1,714,643 babies were born to unmarried women in 2007, accounting for 39.7% of all births in the United States.The cesarean delivery rate rose 2% in 2007, to 31.8%, marking the 11th consecutive year of increase and another record high for the United States.
  

The entire report and state-level data on selected measures in the report are available separately on the CDC/NCHS website.

Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics press release, March 18, 2009, Report: "Births:
Preliminary Data for 2007. NVSR 57, Number 12." Contact: Office of Communication (301) 458-4800. E
mail: [email protected]