Pregnancy rates among teens who had access to free contraception and were educated about the different types of birth control methods were much less likely to become pregnant, give birth or have an abortion when compared to other sexually active teens, a new study indicates.

The research, conducted by investigators at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears in the October 2 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study enforced the use of long-acting types of birth control methods, including intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants due to their effectiveness in preventing unintended pregnancies. Of the 1,404 teens enrolled in the Contraceptive CHOICE Project, 72 percent chose IUDs or implants, in comparison with an estimated five percent of U.S. teens who opted for long-term birth control. Within the country, many teens choose less-reliable contraceptives such as birth control pills or condoms or no method at all due to cost and other factors.

Gina Secura, PhD, the study’s first author and director of the CHOICE Project, said in a statement, “When we removed barriers to contraception for teens such as lack of knowledge, limited access and cost in a group of teens, we were able to lower pregnancy, birth and abortion rates.” She continued, “This study demonstrates there is a lot more we can do to reduce the teen pregnancy rate.”

Between 2008-13, annual pregnancy rates among teens ages 15-19 in the study averaged 34 out of 1,000 compared with 158.5 per 1,000 in 2008 for sexually active teens in the U.S. Within the five-year span, the average annual birth rate among teens involved in the study was 19.4 per 1,000, compared with 94 per 1,000 in 2008 for sexually active U.S. teens.

According to the Office of Adolescent Health, there were 26.6 births for every 1,000 females ages 15-19, indicating a ten percent decline from 2012, when the birth rate was 29.4 per 1,000.