Teen pregnancy rate on the rise in Devon
DEVON’S teenage pregnancy rate has risen over the last decade despite a government pledge to halve it.
The county bucked the national downward trend in women aged under-18 getting pregnant over the last 10 years, and actually saw a slight increase.
Devon’s teen pregnancy rate also showed a year on year rise, while other areas saw a drop from a “spike” in 2007.
A total of 450 women under 18 fell pregnant in Devon in 2008, up from 442 in 2007, and 406 in 2006.
This gave an under-18 conception rate in 2008 of 33.4 per 1,000 women aged 15-17 falling pregnant. This is compared to 32.9 in 1998, a 1.4 per cent increase.
Exeter currently has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the Devon County Council area — 47 out of every 1,000 under-18s conceive.
But nationally, the pregnancy rate among girls under 18 has fallen, according to the Office of National Statistics data.
Ministers pledged to halve England’s under-18 pregnancy rate by this year against a 1998 baseline of 46.6 conceptions per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17. The statistics show a rate of 40.4 per 1,000 girls in 2008, a drop of just over 13 per cent against the baseline figure and a three per cent fall since 2007.
Dr Virginia Pearson, director of public health at NHS Devon, said: “Devon has low rates of teenage pregnancy, below South West and national averages.
“We are seeking to reduce our rates even further, with messages to young people about the benefits of delaying early sex, first class relationships and sex education, and better access to advice about contraception.”
Schools Secretary Ed Balls has defended the Government’s record on teenage pregnancies, but said it would be hard to achieve the 50 per cent reduction.
“It was a really ambitious target,” he said. He said that measures to tackle teen pregnancies were proving successful, but were not enough.
Labour MP for Exeter Ben Bradshaw said: “It is not acceptable for the rate to have risen in Devon when it has fallen in most of the country.
“I have asked for an explanation from Devon Primary Care Trust and Devon County Council.
“I hope this is not an example of the county ignoring the needs of Exeter, which has traditionally had higher teenage pregnancy rates than rural Devon.”
The findings of a county council-led public consultation into teenage pregnancies and young people’s sexual health is due to be published shortly as part of a strategic review of the issue.
The review, by a group from the children and young people’s services scrutiny committee, has been examining the levels of teenage pregnancy, and incidences of sexually transmitted infections in Devon.
5 Comments
by Mrs Stella Wilson, N Ireland
Saturday, February 27 2010, 4:28PM
“This is just another proof that the ever-increasing emphasis on sex education just is not working. And the failure (through lack of courage?) to tell young people that the only fail-safe way to avoid pregnancy is to abstain from sex until one is married. Our generation managed on the whole to do just that, so why can this one not? Again, the government's hand-outs to single mothers also encourages this. I suggest that schools bring happily-married couples in to show that this is a much better way to live, especially as the latest research shows that married couples are 10 times more likely to stay together than cohabiting couples. Our children deserve better than they are getting at present.”
by Alex Price-Alexander, Honiton
Friday, February 26 2010, 5:49PM
“Teenage girls do not "fall" pregnant. The become pregnant when they have sex. They have sex at ever-earlier ages because of lamentable "relationships" education backed-up with confidential access to contraceptives and even abortions ¿ all without parental knowledge or consent.
To quote Dr Trevor Stammers (a real expert on the subjec), who this week wrote: "I would predict that if this (Children, Schools & Families) BIll passes unamended even with the concessions helpfully obtained this week, the sexual health of those in primary as well as secondary schools will fall within 5-10 years, just as it has overall in under 18s over the past decade (though conceptions have fallen marginally since 1998, abortions and STDs have steadily risen, making the overall state of sexual health worse than in 1998 when the Teenage Pregnancy Unit started up, 280 million pounds ago."
We have been warned (yet again)...”
by with held, exeter
Friday, February 26 2010, 7:26AM
“My daughter got pregant at 16yrs , she was working at a local supermarket on saturdays , my Granddaughter is now 10mts and my daughter now works 16hrs a week with our help.”
by Tim, Exeter
Thursday, February 25 2010, 9:00PM
“Simon, it's a percentage increase.....32.9 is the base (=100%) so....
100/32.9*33.4-100 = 1.52% increase. Don't know where the 1.4 came from though....”
by Simon, Exeter
Thursday, February 25 2010, 1:51PM
“Can the E&E not do maths?? The difference between 2008 and 1998 is 0.5% not 1.4%”