Monthly Vital Statistics Reports

Advance Report of Final Natality Statistics, 1994

There were 3,952,767 registered births in the United States in 1994. This is the fourth consecutive year that births declined after reaching the high of 4,158,212 births in 1990. This report includes estimates on births by State, births to teenage mothers, and maternal life-style characteristics. Data are obtained from birth certificates filed from vital registration offices in the United States.

Data Highlights:

• Birth rates for teenagers declined in 1994, to 37.6 per 1,000 women aged 15-17 years and 91.5 per 1,000 women aged 18-19 years. Although these rates have declined 3 percent each in the 1990's, they are still as high or higher than they were in the 1970's.
• Measures of childbearing by unmarried women increased 4 to 5 percent in 1994. The number of nonmarital births totaled 1,289,592 in 1994, and 32.6 percent of all births were to unmarried women.
• In 1994 electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) was the most prevalent obstetric procedure performed. EFM usage in 994 rose for the fifth consecutive year.
• Data on methods of delivery show that the rate of cesarean delivery declined for the fifth consecutive year and was 7 percent lower in 1994 (21.2 percent) than in 1989 (22.8 percent).
• The multiple birth ratio rose to 25.7 per 1,000 live births, an increase of 2 percent over the previous year and 33 percent since 1980. There were 97,064 births in twin deliveries and 4,594 births in higher-order multiple deliveries.