Teenage pregnancy rate surges in Wolverhampton
The rate of teenage pregnancies has surged in Wolverhampton while it has decreased in other areas of the Black Country, new figures show.
Across England and Wales the number of conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 17 fell by eight per cent between March 2015 and March 2016 to 20.4.
But in Wolverhampton the rate increased nearly 21 per cent from 26.9 per 1,000 women to 32.5, bucking the national trend.
Meanwhile the decline in the proportion of teenage pregnancies in Sandwell was well ahead of the national picture at 20 per cent, down to 29.6. The rate in Walsall declined by seven per cent but there were still 33.2 conceptions per 1,000 women, the highest across the Black Country and Staffordshire.
Comparative rates as of March 2016 were 22.6 across Staffordshire and 24.5 in Dudley. The latest figures were released by the Office for National Statistics this week.
They have prompted sexual health charity FPA, previously the Family Planning Association, to call on all political parties to commit to reduce the UK’s teenage pregnancy rate.
The UK’s teenage birth rate remains one of the highest in Western Europe.
Natika H Halil, chief executive of FPA, said: “The UK still has one of the highest teenage birth rates in western Europe: three times the rate in Italy, and more than four times the rate in Sweden.”
“We are calling on all political parties to support investment now, to make sure we build on the incredible work done so far, and don’t instead see teenage pregnancy rates slip even further away from other European countries.”
