Condom use is up among heterosexual couples having premarital sex for the first time, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and reported by Salon.com.

The CDC found that 84 percent of heterosexual couples today are using condoms the first time they have sex, compared with 55 percent before 1985. Researchers touted this as a dramatic increase, considering 94 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 have had premarital sexual intercourse.

However, the CDC also pointed out that condom use remains inconsistent. They found that women who “don’t protect themselves the first time are twice as likely to become teen mothers” and that “one half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended.”  

The most popular form of birth control is the pill, used by 10.7 million women, with sterilization coming in a close second with 10.3 million women.