Milwaukee Teen Pregnancies Up Slightly In 2014

It seems that Milwaukee’s progress in reducing teen births stalled a bit last year: The birth rate for mothers 17 and younger rose slightly in 2014.

For seven years, Milwaukee’s teen birth rate had gone down, something public health officials and community partners sought to make happen. But last year, the rate went up by about 3.5 percent to 23.7 per 1,000 females between the age of 15-17.

“We knew heading into this initiative almost 10 years ago, there were going to be years where we probably saw some slight upticks,” said Nicole Angresano, vice president of community impact for United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County. “I think we got excited because there were so many years in row a where we didn’t. But public health change takes years, decades even.”

The 2014 rate for births by black teens dropped while the rate for whites and Hispanics increased.

The data is considered preliminary, and still has to be reviewed by the state.