City's teenage pregnancies fall

Teenage pregnancies in Wolverhampton - traditionally one of the worst places in Britain for gymslip mums - have fallen dramatically, new figures reveal.

The city has a teenage pregnancy rate in the top 10 in the United Kingdom but numbers have plummeted by 22 per cent in a year, the biggest drop registered by any authority at any time.

The news has been welcomed by health chiefs who had launched a series of campaigns specifically aimed at reducing the birth rate among the the city's under-18s.

One of the successful strategies has been to switch the focus in sex education classes from biology to relationships.

Publicity was also given to the link between excess alcohol and teenage pregnancy, particularly during the Christmas and New Year periods.

In addition, health bosses rebranded their services to make them more appealing to young people and opened new clinics at both Wolverhampton and Bilston colleges.

Evidence suggests that half the fall in teenage pregnancies was due to the promotion of contraceptive implants, which are effective over an extended period of time.

Health experts say they have proved 99.6 per cent reliable and are less fallible than condoms and the pill.

The new figures cover 2008, with the official performance for 2009 not available until February next year, but the rate is predicted to fall.

At a meeting of Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust yesterday, Dr Adrian Phillips, director of public health, described the news as "enormous".

He said: "I never thought we could see a drop of this size. Although some of it can be put down to chance, at least half is due to design.

"We implemented an industrial-scale programme that included all schools which has meant that there were 60 fewer teenage pregnancies in the city in 2008.

"Effectively we have changed lives, and that is really important."

Of those 60 teenage pregnancies, 28 resulted in births while 32 were aborted, the board heard.

Teenage pregnancies in Sandwell and Dudley also fell, both by around 18 per cent.

The rate in the West Midlands, and Wolverhampton in particular, has consistently been higher than the national average.