Teen pregnancies in Sandwell lowest for 14 years
Teenage pregnancy rates have dropped to their lowest point in 14 years in Sandwell, new figures have shown.
There were 148 fewer teenage pregnancies in the borough in 2012, the Teenage Pregnancy Unit has revealed.
It said the rate per 1,000 females aged 15 to17 had almost halved from 1998 to 2012 – dropping from 69.1 to 38.5.
In 2012, there were 231 teenage pregnancies in the borough, compared to 280 in 2011, and 379 in 1998.
Sandwell Council, which oversees public health in the borough, today welcomed the provisional figures as a major achievement – but warned that there is still work to do.
John Middleton, director of public health, said: "It is great news that the levels continue to fall and it is good that young people are taking responsibility for their lives and delaying pregnancy.
"The improved figures are also the result of good teamwork, with schools, school nurses, youth workers, targeted youth support staff, staff in contraception services working for the good of these young women."
"The improved figures are also the result of raising the aspirations of young women to delay starting their family until successfully completing their education.
"It is also important to support those teenagers who do become pregnant and we have services such as midwives for teenagers, family nurse partnership and children centre for young parents."
Councillor Paul Moore, the borough's health and well-being chief, said the continued downward trend in the numbers of teenage pregnancies was encouraging.
He added: "But we are anxious that the figures should fall even further and having taken on responsibility for this service as part of our public health responsibilities we will be looking at way of further reductions,
"There is still work to do, but with these new figures we're committed to reducing the number of teenage pregnancies in Sandwell even further.
"I think it is important that parents, carers and young people to continue to seek advice on how to deal with issues surrounding sexual health and pregnancy."
Meanwhile nationally the number of teenage pregnancies continues to drop, but the proportion of young girls keeping their babies has risen slightly.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that the under-18 conception rate remains the lowest since 1969 at 27.9 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 17.
The number of pregnancies in those under 18 fell to 27,834 in 2012 compared with 31,051 in 2011 – a 10 per cent drop.
Some 5,432 under-16s fell pregnant in 2012, compared with 5,991 in 2011 (a fall of 9.3 per cent).
