, a research center focused on children’s issues. The proportion of teens who gave birth a second time also has dropped—from 25 percent of all teen births in 1990 to 20 percent in 2004.
States vary greatly in their proportion of teen repeat births. Overall, teen births—both first and repeat—were highest in the Sun Belt and generally lowest in the North (see chart).
To reduce the number of repeat teen births, the brief recommends delaying first sexual intercourse, initiating long-acting contraceptive methods and continuing to attend school after having a first birth. Child Trends also notes that nurse home-visiting programs, in which trained nurses visit expectant adolescents before and after the baby’s birth, help to reduce subsequent childbearing.
States with a high proportion of repeat teen births are primarily concentrated in the South.
