High rate of teen mums in region

DARLING Downs teenagers are more likely to get pregnant than their counterparts in metropolitan areas a new study has found.

The study, by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, found the birth rate per 1000 women aged 15 to 19 in the Darling Downs and West Moreton Public Health Network was 22.3 in 2015, the sixth highest in the country.

The neighbouring Western Queensland Public Health Network, which takes in the Maranoa, Balonne and Paroo council regions among others, had the highest rate in Australia with 49 out of 1000 15 to 19 year olds giving birth.

AIHW spokeswoman Dr Fadwa Al-Yaman said the report found babies born to teenage mothers were more likely to be premature, have a low birth rate and more likely to require admission to special care nurseries, which could lead to chronic disease later in life.

“Forty two per cent of teenage mothers lived in Australia’s lowest socioeconomic areas, compared with one-third of mothers aged 20–24 years,” Dr Al-Yaman said.

Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN CEO Merrilyn Strohfeldt said the figures for the region were high.

“Younger mothers are a very vulnerable group in our community,” Ms Strohfeldt said.

She said any effort to reduce that high number started with education.

“We want to make sure young people are making informed choices with what they’re doing with their own body,” she said.

“If young people are considering becoming sexually active we would encourage them to talk with their doctor, we would also ask them to understand the risk of STIs and also want to give them advice on respectful relationships as we don’t want a young woman to feel coerced into anything.”

Ms Strohfeldt said that was why the PHN funded services such as True Relationships and Reproductive Health, which employs a youth nurse to help young people with sexual health and medical pregnancy advice. She said the PHN also funded services such as Headspace that could help provide emotional support.

A Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service spokesperson said at the Toowoomba Hospital in 2015 there were 96 births to mothers aged between 15 and 19 years.

“(That’s) 5.1 per cent of all births,” the spokesperson said.

“In 2017 there were 81 (4.3 per cent of total).

“Across the DDHHS there were 169 births to mothers aged between 15 and 19 which represented 5.6 per cent of the total number of births. In 2017 there were 145 births to teenage mums, representing just under 5 per cent of all births.”