Teenage pregnancies continue to fall in Plymouth

The number of unplanned teenage pregnancies in Plymouth has fallen for the sixth year in a row new figures released yesterday reveal.

Council and health chiefs tasked with reducing the city’s teenage pregnancy rates put the continued reduction down to better awareness of sexual health among young people, more convenient and tailored services in the community and higher aspirations of young girls.

The figures for 2012 released today show teenage pregnancies fell to 39.5 per 1,000 - down from 2011 figures of 43.6 per 1,000. This is the lowest rate Plymouth has recorded since 1998 when figures were first measured and shows a consistent and steady reduction of 27.8%.

Plymouth still has some work to do when figures are compared to the national rate which stands at 27.7 per 1,000. But in real terms, officials are pleased that the results show 19 fewer unplanned teenage pregnancies – a reduction from 186 in 2011 to 167 in 2012.

Councillor Sue McDonald, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Adult Social Care, said: “It is really encouraging to see that rates of teenage pregnancy in Plymouth have fallen. We know that unplanned pregnancies among young people can often have a detrimental impact on their futures and on the life chances of their children. It is important that we continue with our efforts to educate young women and men so they can make informed decisions about sexual relationships and health.”

Plymouth City Council’s Public Health team, Youth Service and Care Leavers Service work in partnership with organisations across the city to deliver advice and practical support to teenagers about sexual health and avoiding unplanned pregnancies.

This ranges from youth workers being equipped to offer advice about contraception, to drop-in sessions at community and health centres where specialist help can be given with no need to pre-book appointments, all with the aim of ensuring that services meet the needs of young people.

Councillor Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “It’s really important that young people have ambition and can picture futures which drive them to achieve. We work very hard to ensure that we are raising the aspirations of young people and teenage pregnancy is an area where I believe we are seeing the results. Many of the girls in our schools have big plans and they are being nurtured and encouraged to achieve them, which we are seeing in ever improving exam results.”

Three key sexual health services include:

The Community Contraception and Sexual Health Service (CCASH) provides accurate information and the full range of contraception, including: reversible long acting methods and Emergency Hormonal Contraception. They also offer Chlamydia screening and treatment and free and confidential pregnancy testing.

The Zone works with CCASH to provide sexual and reproductive health information and advice, access to, and take up of, contraception services, access to pregnancy testing and testing for Chlamydia in under 25s. The service is specifically tailored to meet the needs of young people by providing a number of drop-in clinics across the week.

The Eddystone Trust provides the ‘C-Card’ scheme which gives young people access to free condoms in a number of sites across the city. The Safe Badge Quality Assurance Scheme is operated to ensure youth services work to agreed standards when dealing with young people’s sexual health needs. The Eddystone Trust also provides a range of training opportunities for staff working with young people to ensure that they are equipped to discuss the sexual health needs with young people.

Information about sex education and advice can be found by visiting either www.thezone.co.uk or www.eddystone.org.uk