Teen pregnancy: Hip or blip? - Pregnancy - MSNBC.com

Nevertheless some experts disagree, citing statistics that expo long-term teen pregnancy is not on the rise. Jamie Lynn Spears, star of the Nickelodeon television series "Zoey 101," is getting a parcel of tabloid care for her pregnancy. MacGuff is the 16-year-old pregnant protagonist in the recent film "Juno." In the film, Juno decides to bequeath the infant up for adoption. In the article "Suddenly teen pregnancy is cool?"

Jan. 17 in the Canadian magazine, Cathy Gulli argued that a trend supporting underage motherhood was afoot, among celebrities and the larger population. However, the Canadian teen birth scale dropped 38 percent from 1994 to 2004. And the U.S. 1991 to 2005, decreasing approximately 33 percent overall, according to the CDC's Public Centre for Health Statistics. However, the 2006 announcement showed a 3 percent development in the teen birth degree from the year before.

Experts were surprised by the change, and keep debated if it represents a essential shift or a blip. The augmentation is obviously noteworthy and certainly has our attention," said Fee Albert, deputy employer of the Civic Crusade to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. What nobody knows is why the rates chalk up out up."

Canada's counsel is not much in from 2006. Shifting social norms However, Albert thinks fledgling motherhood has disappeared some of its stigma. In spite of the declines, 441,832 children were born to teens in the United States in 2006. I esteem one of the reasons why this country's rates of teen pregnancy are gigantic is that we simply close not bear a forceful social measure that teen pregnancy is not OK," Albert told LiveScience.

I conceive thatâ s why the rates in Bull Britain, Japan, Italy and the Netherlands are significantly lower compared to ours. There, there is a exact beefy social benchmark that there is a sequence to life's events, you donâ t bring about a family when you are 16 agedness old." Bracket the analysis   Arrange typical culture figures domination teen pregnancy rates?

In England, however, pregnancies among women under 18 rose in 2005 to the highest standard on account of 1998, according to the Branch for Children, Schools and Families in the UK. Langille said he doubts that teen pregnancy in Canada has similarly increased, on the contrary much whether it has, he doesn't estimate a cramped blip is significant.

I anticipate at least in our territory what we should be doing is publishing enlightenment about this boom chronicle in teen pregnancy over the ultimate 10 elderliness rather than alluding to the opportunity that matters enjoy stopped getting greater based on no evidence," he said. Langille pointed gone another original trend that calls the pregnancy-is-hip speculation into question. Slightly fewer fresh women in Canada are carrying their pregnancies to term," he said.

To me, thatâ s an sign that adolescent women arenâ t prerrogative seeing this as cool." Celebrity role models Whether or not the customary teen thinks unplanned pregnancy is fashionable, there are heaps celebrity and pop culture examples of hip, spinster moms. The Maclean's article pointed to Nicole Richie and Jessica Alba, and movies such as "Knocked Up" and "Waitress."

I fancy you would corner to be naà ve in the great to envisage celebrity culture doesnâ t shape trends," said the State Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy's Albert. I donâ t assume the chain reaction is as regulate as some might expect, on the other hand it certainly is playing a role." Other experts allow celebrity role models can move cultural trends, however claim it's burdensome to disclose how human beings testament respond.

While some teens might attending up to Jamie Lynn Spears, for example, and hunger to emulate her, others will get the diametric response, said Douglas Kirby, a senior check scientist at ETR Associates, a nonprofit troop promoting health education. Jamie Lynn might be the wake-up ring some teens occasion to launch having defended sex.

Other causes Too the alleged trendiness of teen pregnancy, there are a uncommon other credible explanations for the new uptick in burgeoning women having babies. Albert warned against interpreting the teen info elsewhere of context. In 2006 it wasn't good developing teen births that went up, he said, but births to women in their 20s, 30s and 40s as well. Because theory grew across the board, "whatever's happening, a teen-centric explanation won't bring about it," Albert said.

Or conceivably efforts to warn teens against pregnancy posses waned through the story was ace for so long, he suggested. Complacency may keep eventually be the enemy of progress," he said. Provided somebody reads every year that the rates are going down, they consider we've solved that issue. It's not foolish for citizens who clout the purse strings to affirm they'll levy the method elsewhere." If that's the case, he hopes the 2006 upswing will alter the situation.

Aught focuses the interest fully affection a evil report card, so we act bright side one of the silver linings here is to spur bodies into action," he said. We can part this to policy makers and assert clearly this battle has not ended, we charge to rejoin the altercation here."