Teen Births and Teen Birth Spacing in Arkansas

Developing policies to address the maternal health crisis in Arkansas requires having clear information about what Arkansas mothers experience at each stage of the childbirth journey. This infographic focuses on the first step in this journey – pre-pregnancy preparation – by assessing birth rates and birth spacing patterns among Arkansas teens.

ACHI analyzed birth records and health insurance claims data to determine the number and rate of births to Arkansas women ages 11 to 19. We also analyzed adolescent birth rates by Arkansas public health region and assessed birth spacing patterns among adolescents who conceived more than one pregnancy. .

Main findings

• Between 2019 and 2021:
  • There were 331 births to women aged 15 and under, 1,569 births to women aged 16 to 17, and 5,984 births to women aged 18 to 19.
  • The birth rates for these age groups were 3.4 births per 1,000 women aged 15 and under, 40.5 births per 1,000 women aged 16 to 17, and 158.5 births per 1 000 women aged 18 to 19.
  • By public health region, Southeast Arkansas had the highest birth rate among women ages 15 to 19 with 38.2 births per 1,000 women, followed by Northeast Arkansas with 33.3 births per 1,000 women, southwest Arkansas with 27.0 births per 1,000 women, and central Arkansas with 24.1 births. per 1,000 women and northwest Arkansas with 23.6 births per 1,000 women.
• Our birth spacing analysis revealed:
  • Among women who had a first child between 2016 and 2018, 24.1% of 19 year olds, 26.6% of 18 year olds, 22.2% of 17 year olds, 16.8% of 16 year olds, 12.8% of young people aged 15, 6.0% of young people aged 14 and 4.8% of young people aged 13 or younger conceived a second pregnancy within 18 months following their first pregnancy. The recommended interval between childbirth and conception of another pregnancy is at least 18 months.

Data sources for these analyzes were Arkansas Department of Health birth records (for in-state births), the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative All Payer Claims Database (for out-of-state births) and 2020 population estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics. (for teenage birth rates).

See more information about maternal and child health in Arkansas on our topic page.

The references

1. Osterman MJK, Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Driscoll AK, Valenzuela CP. Births: Final data for 2021. Representative of the national civil status. 2023;72(1):1-53. Accessed May 28, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-01.pdf
2. March of Dimes. How long should you wait before getting pregnant again? Accessed May 23, 2024.