Trends in U.S. Birth Patterns Described for 2020, 2021, 2022

THURSDAY, Aug. 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The number of births was unchanged in the United States from 2021 to 2022, and the general fertility rate decreased 1 percent, according to a data brief published online Aug. 23 by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Joyce A. Martin, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues described changes in birth patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic years using data from the National Vital Statistics System.

The researchers found that following an increase of 1 percent in the number of births in the United States from 2020 to 2021, there was essentially no change in the number of births from 2021 to 2022. In 2022, the general fertility rate decreased 1 percent to 56.0 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 44 years, following a 1 percent increase from 2020 to 2021. Between 2021 and 2022, birth rates declined for age groups 15 to 19 and 20 to 24 years and increased for age groups 25 to 29 and 35 to 44 years, similar to the pattern seen in 2020 to 2021. There was no change in the cesarean delivery rate from 2021 to 2022, which remained at 32.1 percent; from 2020 to 2021, the rate increased 1 percent. Following a 4 percent increase in the preterm birth rate from 2020 to 2021, there was a 1 percent decline in the rate to 10.38 percent in 2022.

"U.S. birth certificate data for 2022 show modest changes in some childbearing and perinatal health indicators compared with changes observed for 2020 and 2021, the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic," the authors write.

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