Just like their national counterparts, about half of Utah teens who get pregnant by accident aren’t using contraception.
But Utah teens stand out for the reasons they aren’t using protection. According to newly released national and Utah data, they are much more likely than other teen moms to say that:
—
Contraception use among Utah teens
Self-reported birth control methods used among teens who had an unintended pregnancy from 2004-2008:
52.6 percent didn’t use contraception.
21.1 percent used “highly effective” methods such as IUDs, oral contraceptives, hormonal patch or vaginal ring.
20.8 percent used “moderately effective” methods such as condoms.
5.5% used “less effective” methods including diaphragm, rhythm method and withdrawal.
[Note: Due to rounding, totals don’t add up to 100]
Source: Utah Department of Health
 |
Join the Discussion |
 |
Post a Comment |
• They struggled to get birth control.
• They thought they couldn’t get pregnant at the time.
• They believed they or their partner was sterile.
The data suggest some Utah teens don’t know the facts of life — either because public schools are limited in what they can say about sex, say opponents of Utah’s sex education law, or because the teens aren’t listening in class, say the law’s supporters.
Regardless, the data provide one of the few glimpses into Utah teen sexuality. School districts and the state health department won’t ask students whether they are sexually active, their number of partners and use of protection. Most other states conduct such surveys.
The teen pregnancy report comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Pregnant Risk Assessment Monitoring System, which surveys women who have recently had a live birth. They are asked about their experiences and attitudes before, during and after pregnancy. The CDC analyzed the responses of teens ages 15-19 who had unintended pregnancies from 19 states, representing 30 percent of all U.S. teen births.
The Utah Department of Health, which questioned the new mothers for the CDC, provided the state data to The Salt Lake Tribune. Nearly 17,400 babies were born to Utah teen mothers from 2004-2008. Nearly 70 percent of the Utah births were unintended.
Among the teens with unintended pregnancies, the data show:
• Slightly more Utah teens weren’t using contraception — 53 percent vs. 50 percent nationally.
• 35 percent of teens ages 15-17 across the country thought they couldn’t get pregnant at the time, compared to 49 percent in Utah. The knowledge gap was smaller for older teens.
• Some 13 percent of teens nationally said they had trouble getting birth control, compared to 21 percent in Utah.
• And among the youngest teens, ages 15 to 17, nearly 24 percent thought they or their partner was sterile, a rate three times higher than the rest of the country.
By comparison, only 10 percent of Utah women ages 20 and older thought they or their partner was sterile.
No follow up questions were asked, so it is unclear why the teens believed what they did.
Liz Zentner, Utah PTA president-elect and the group’s former health commissioner, called the sterility statistic "unbelievable."
Next Page >Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
