Second Pregnancies to Premaritally Pregnant Teenagers, 1976 and 1971

Abstract

PIP: Results of national studies have shown that there was very little decline in premarital 1st pregnancies among sexually active teenagers in the US interviewed in 1971 and 1976, although there had been marked improvement in their contraceptive practice. This was attributed to an increase in sexual activity among younger teenagers who were not using contraception when they began to have intercourse. As a result, 1/2 of premarital 1st pregnancies occurred in the 1st 6 months after initiation of coitus. Since improved contraceptive use is preventing many pregnancies, this article explores whether this improvement may have been more effective in preventing 2nd pregnancies among teenagers. This is apparently the case. Repeat pregnancies declined by more than 40% overall (from 50 to 30% of those who had had a premarital 1st conception) within 24 months after resolution of 1st pregnancy. The decline was most marked among whites (a 57% drop), those 16 or older at 1st outcome (48%) and, especially among those whose 1st pregnancy was terminated by abortion (65%). Among those who remained unmarried after the resolution of the 1st pregnancy, the decline over 24 months in 2nd premarital pregnancies was only 9%. But the fall was more dramatic among certain groups: repeat pregnancies declined by 21% among whites, by 14% among those whose 1st pregnancies were resolved at age 15 or younger, and by 63% among those whose 1st pregnancy was terminated by abortion. Those whose 1st pregnancy ended in a live birth were more likely in 1976 than in 1971 to have a subsequent premarital pregnancy. Those who legitimated 1st pregnancies had declined by as much as 2/3. The data suggest that contraceptive advice and service is more available to the unwed teenager who aborts than to those who give birth. Although the 12-month repeat pregnancy rate is nowhere near the 44% frequently cited by federal officials, the fact that 15% conceive again after a premarital pregnancy reminds us that young people must be reached early -- before they begin intercourse -- with accurate and practical information about sex, the risk of pregnancy, contraception and how and where to obtain it, to prevent unwanted teenage pregnancies.