"US Fertility Rate Hits A Record Low" - Daniella Emanuel
The US fertility rate has dropped to the lowest number reported since fertility records starting being kept more than a century ago. There were 61.5 births per women ages 15 to 44 in the year ending the first quarter of 2017, according to numbers released by the National Center for Health Statistics. It is important to remember that although the country is at record lows in fertility, there is also a large influx of immigrants. This will affect the population number, taxes and demand for education. Alan Copperman, MD, clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said, “birthrates help us understand disease risk, predict infertility and see where there have been changes in teen pregnancy or across other age groups. I don’t think there was a dramatic move in quarterly numbers, but there is certainly this tremendous awareness of how difficult it can be to conceive as a woman who is in her 40s.” We see more and more women entering the work force and delaying childbearing. They’re having a lower birth rate electively. “But what we worry about is the non-elective birth rate. In other words, the reproductive challenges that are facing women as they try to conceive.”
- Alan Copperman, MD, Clinical Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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