MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Even as the statewide rate falls, the number of teenagers giving birth in McDowell County is soaring, jumping 34 percent in five years. The 2012 West Virginia KIDS COUNT report released Tuesday shows a rate in McDowell of 96 births per 1,000 girls in 2010, the latest figures available. That's 17 more births per 1,000 girls than the next-closest county, Mingo, and more than double the statewide rate. McDowell's rate is also seven times higher than the county with the fewest teen births: In Monongalia, it's just 14 per 1,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19. The figures are alarming, says KIDS COUNT Executive Director Margie Hale, because teenagers...
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