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Statewide, Michigan’s overall annual teen birth rate was 24 births to teens per 1,000 babies born, lower than the national average of 27 per 1,000 in 2013. In southwest Michigan, Cass County has the highest percentage of births to teen mothers at 12.1%, which has fallen by 2.2% over five years. The rate in Berrien County has dropped from 12.9% in 2009 to 10.5% in 2013, and Van Buren County has experienced a decline from 13.9% to 10% over the same time period. 195 babies born in Berrien County in 2013 were to teen mothers. That is the most recent year available for the study. Teen birth rates are the lowest in the wealthy Detroit suburbs in Macomb and Oakland counties along with Ottawa County in West Michigan.
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The report recommends ways to combat the issue by supporting “evidence-based, results-driven programming to prevent teen pregnancies,” increasing the availability of birth control and contraception, expanding early childhood services and targeting kids in foster care and the juvenile justice system, as they have higher-than-average pregnancy rates.
