Report Reveals Historic 1st for American Moms

For the first time, women in their early 30s are having more babies than younger moms in the US, the AP reports. Health experts say the shift is due to more women waiting longer to have children and the ongoing drop in the teen birth rate. For more than three decades, women in their late 20s had the highest birth rates, but that changed last year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the CDC. The birth rate for women ages 30 to 34 was about 103 per 100,000; the rate for women ages 25 to 29 was 102 per 100,000.

It's becoming more common to see older parents with kids in elementary or high school, says Bill Albert of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Meanwhile, more teens are growing up with fewer of their peers getting pregnant, he says. "We always talk about peer pressure as a negative, but it can be a force for good," Albert says. Among the report's findings: the overall birth rate was down slightly in 2016, to 62 births per 100,000 women ages 15 to 44; the average age when women have their first child is about 28; and the teen birth rate continued to drop last year. (More birth stories.)