National
Center for
Health Statistics
New Report Documents Trends in Childbearing,
Reproductive Health
Embargoed for
Release 4 p.m., e.s.t., Thursday, June 5, 1997
Contact: Jeff Lancashire or Sandra Smith (301) 458-4800
Series 23, No. 19. Fertility, Family Planning, and Women’s Health: New
Data From the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. 128 pp. (PHS) 97-1995 View/download
PDF830 KB
CDC's National Center for Health Statistics has issued an in-depth report
on childbearing and the sexual and reproductive lives of American women.
The report contains data from a nationally representative sample of women
15-44 years of age, who were interviewed as part of the National
Survey of Family Growth. The study produced a number of interesting
findings, including:
The leading method of
contraception remains female sterilization (10.7 million women),
followed by the oral contraceptive pill (10.4 million), the male condom
(7.9 million), and male sterilization (4.2 million).
New contraceptive methods were used by small proportions of women in 1995,
such as hormonal injectables (used by 2 percent of women), hormonal
implants (1 percent), and female condoms (less than 1 percent).
Condom use among never-married women tripled between 1982 and 1995, from 4
to 14 percent. Condom
use at first intercourse increased from 18 percent in the 1970's to 36
percent in the late 1980's and 54 percent in the 1990's.
Ten percent of births between 1990 and 1995 were unwanted by the mother at
the time of conception, compared with 12 percent between 1984-88. For
black women, the decrease in unwanted
births between these two periods was particularly large -- from 29 to
21 percent.
About 6.1 million women had impaired
fecundity in 1995, compared with 4.9 million in 1988. Some of this
increase is due to the aging of the baby boom generation. The percent with
impaired fecundity was 8.4 in 1988 and 10.2 in 1995.
Approximately 2 percent of women (1.2 million) had an infertility visit in
the past year, and another 13 percent (7.6 million) reported an
infertility visit at some point earlier in their lives.
In 1995, eight percent of women reported that they had been treated for pelvic
inflammatory disease (PID) at some time in their lives, down from 11
percent in 1988 and 14 percent in 1982.
The percent of women who were douching regularly declined from 37 percent
in 1988 to 27 percent in 1995.
Medicaid was used to help pay
for about one out of three deliveries in 1991-95 (34 percent). Among
unmarried mothers and teenage mothers, two-thirds (68-69 percent) were
paid for, at least partly, by Medicaid, compared with 20 percent of births
to married mothers.
Women's average expected family size was 2.2 children per woman in 1995,
2.2 in 1988, and 2.4 in 1982.
The report,
"Fertility, Family Planning, and Women's Health: New Data from the
1995 National Survey of Family Growth," also includes data on sexual
activity; marriage, divorce, and cohabitation; breastfeeding; maternity
leave; child care; adoptive, foster, and stepchildren; use of family
planning and other medical services; HIV testing; and other information.
To receive a copy of the report, please contact NCHS Public Affairs
(301-458-4800) or send e-mail to paoquery@cdc.gov.