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NC Teen Pregnancies At Decades Low, Thanks In Part To Contraception

WUNC News | By Anita Rao,
Frank Stasio
Published October 10, 2017 at 12:22 PM EDT
Research shows that teen pregnancy rates are at an all time low due in large part to increased use of contraception.
Lee Health
/
vimeo commons
Research shows that teen pregnancy rates are at an all time low due in large part to increased use of contraception.

Teen birth rates in North Carolina are at a historic low, according to a statistical brief from the State Center for Health Statistics. 

A conversation about adolescent sexual behavior and teen pregnancy with Carolyn Halpern, professor and chair of the department of maternal and child health in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill and Elizabeth Finley, director of strategic communications at SHIFT NC (Sexual Health Initiatives for Teens).

For teenagers aged 15-19, the birth rate has fallen 62 percent since 1996. National research shows this decline is due in large part to increased use of contraception and better access to long-acting contraception.

Host Frank Stasio talks about the scientific data and psychological underpinnings of adolescent sexual behavior with Carolyn Halpern, professor and chair of the department of maternal and child health in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill.

He is also joined by Elizabeth Finley, director of strategic communications at SHIFT NC (Sexual Health Initiatives for Teens), to discuss how nonprofits and state programs provide sexual education and resources in the state.

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
See stories by Anita Rao
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio