Teenage pregnancy has risen in almost half of all London boroughs

Almost half of all London boroughs have experienced an increase in teenage pregnancy rates between 2016 and 2017, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Out of the 32 boroughs, 14 saw a rise in under-18 conception rates, which are per 1000 female population aged 15-17.

Barking and Dagenham had the highest conception rate of 25.1 in 2017, followed by Greenwich, Lambeth, Enfield and Havering. The lowest rate was 6.6 in Richmond upon Thames.

Teenage pregnancy has fallen dramatically over the last couple of decades with improved sex education and access to contraception. Social factors such as higher education aspiration and stigmas towards teenage mothers have also contributed. Despite the improvements, teenage pregnancy has still risen in certain areas.

Olivia Marshall, from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), says she is “concerned” about the number of local authorities who have had to “cut their sexual health and contraceptive services” due to budget cuts.

A report by the Advisory Group on Contraception found that 1 in 5 councils have had to close sexual health services across the UK, affecting more than 6.2 million women.

“People are struggling to access contraception and that is going to drive up pregnancy rates across all age groups, including teenagers,” said Marshall.

Marshall adds that BPAS has noticed a lot of misinformation circulating in schools: “Particularly anti-abortion groups which have been offering free education services. We found that quite a lot of schools have been taking up these offers without really knowing what they’re signing up to.”

ONS data shows that between 2016 and 2017, 50% of boroughs had a decrease in the percentage of teenage pregnancies leading to abortion. Tower Hamlets experienced the largest drop with 75.5% of cases leading to abortion in 2016, to only 62% in the following year.

It is important to focus on abortion “being a good thing” said Marshall. She believes that women should be able to access abortion services when they need one, rather than “focusing on driving down the numbers”.

Marshall was “delighted” by the sex education reforms announced earlier this year. It will make it mandatory for all English primary schools to teach ‘Relationships Education’, as well as ‘Relationships and Sex Education’ in all secondary schools. The reform will be implemented in September 2020.