Teen baby boom (From Haringey Independent)

Teen baby boom

6:26pm Wednesday 4th April 2007 in Health By Caron Kemp

Haringey has been confirmed as having one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the country.

One in every 16 girls aged 15 to 17 fell pregnant in 2005, new statistics show - an increase of 8.3 per cent since 1998. Of these 246 pregnancies, just over half were aborted.

The borough has the fifth-highest teenage pregnancy rate among London's 32 boroughs, and is 13th highest in the country, according to Government figures.

Additional data collated last May shows that among the 13 to 15 age category, one in every 60 girls in the borough fell pregnant in 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available. In this under-16 category, Haringey has the third-highest pregnancy rate in the country.

Councillor Gail Engert, Liberal Democrat spokeswoman for children and young people's services, believes the closure of family planning clinics in the borough is making the problem worse.

She said: "Even though the trend is decreasing nationwide, Haringey still has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the country.

"There needs to be urgent action by the council to tackle this issue through education, family planning provision and ultimately dealing with the underlying problem of social deprivation. Unfortunately, with the recent closure of family planning clinics by the primary care trust, the prognosis is not good."

Since December, three family planning clinics have closed, in Bounds Green, Fortis Green and Stroud Green. Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust (TPCT) has said it is in line with its plan to create a more integrated sexual health service in the borough.

In 2005, Hornsey YMCA set up the Family Matters Nursery in Stroud Green to enable the growing number of teenage mothers in the borough to get an education. It also runs a scheme in which school girls are given special dolls to care for which have mechanisms making them act like a real baby to help young girls understand the pressures of motherhood.

Vilma Jones, support services manager at Hornsey YMCA, said: "We set up this nursery because we want to keep teenage mothers in school so they can continue their education and become useful parts of society.

"Haringey has got one of the worst teenage pregnancy problems in the country so we have been trying to decrease that number with our in-school educational tools."

Haringey Council has said it wants to offer one-to-one sessions for younger people to delay sexual activity, as well as a confidential parentline offering advice to concerned parents. It is all in a bid to halve the number of under-18s falling pregnant by 2010.

Councillor Liz Santry, executive member for children and young people's services, said: "We are working hard with partner agencies, particularly the PCT, to address teen pregnancy, and the figures show the situation is improving year on year.

"This is a priority for joint action and we will continue to do all we can to tackle the problem, including making sure that there is an appropriate range of facilities available for young people."