Preventing Teen Pregnancy,
Promoting Healthy Youth
Though high teen birth rates persist in Oklahoma, communities are leading the charge to change those numbers!
Oklahoma’s teen birth rate for ages 15-19 decreased by 8 percent between 2017 and 2018. It has decreased by two-thirds (66%) in the past decade, dropping from 61.6 in 2008 to 27.2 in 2018. Even so, the state had the 5th highest teen birth rate in 2018, ranking 46th among all states. Oklahoma’s birth rate for younger teens (aged 15-17) was 10.7, ranked 45th; the birth rate for older teens (aged 18-19) was 52.4, ranked 48th. [Birth rates are the number of births per 1,000 females of the same age range.]
Oklahoma’s annual teen birth numbers and rates decreased by 66% in the decade between 2008 and 2018, yet it remains among a handful of states with the highest teen birth rates in the nation. Bottom line: while other states have made prevention a major priority, investing in educational programs and access to reproductive health services that really work, Oklahoma has not allocated state funding for teen pregnancy prevention in well over a decade.
The good news in Oklahoma is at the community level where evidence-based prevention programs and health services are being provided, thanks to funding from federal initiatives, foundations, tribes and local sources. Those efforts have been the catalyst behind Oklahoma’s success in dramatically reducing teen birth numbers and rates over the past 10+ years.
Effective, community-wide teen pregnancy prevention initiatives in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas have led the way — expanding educational programs, teen-friendly clinics and opportunities for all community residents and sectors to be partners in prevention. A shared vision, broad-based leadership, coordinated plan, active partnerships and sustained commitment is making an impact in those communities.