Births in the U.S. were up last year for the first time in seven years.
About 53,000 more babies were born in 2014 than the previous year — a 1 percent increase, according to preliminary figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Births were also up for nearly every racial and ethnic group, while teen births hit another historic low.
There were also fewer cesarean sections and preterm deliveries, among other improvements in several other key measures.
A decline in births began in 2007, something experts attributed to the nation’s faltering economy. Should these preliminary numbers hold up, the so-called ‘baby recession’ is likely considered over.
Some highlights from the CDC report on 2014 births:
• There were just under four million babies born last year.
• Births rose for white, black, Asian and Hispanic women, but fell for American Indians.
• The birth rate for women of child-bearing age rose from 62.4 percent (the lowest it had ever been) to just under 63 births per 1,000 women.
• Roughly 32 percent of babies were delivered through cesarean section, the second straight decline. The preterm birth rate — delivery at less than 37 weeks — fell to just under 10 percent, another continuing decline.
• Birth rates for women in their 30s and early 40s continue to rise. The rate for women in their late 20s, those who have the most babies, held steady after years of decline.
• The teen birth rate fell 9 percent, a decline that began in 1991 and has continued ever since. Roughly 249,000 babies were born to teens last year, less than half the peak of nearly 645,000 in 1970.
