Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser

More young girls falling pregnant

Growing concern for girls under 16

- Robert Mitchell

Lanarkshir­e has one of the highest rates of under- 16 pregnancie­s in Scotland.

New figures reveal that 42 girls aged between 13 and 15 got pregnant in 2016.

And half of under-16 pregnancie­s resulted in a terminatio­n.

The pregnancy statistics rose significan­tly, up from 29 the previous year.

Among females aged 15 to 17, there were 243 pregnancie­s in 2016 – up from 229 the previous year.

And among females aged 15 to 19, there were 654 pregnancie­s in 2016 – up slightly from 645 in 2015.

The latest government data, for the year ending 2016, was released last week.

And the report said: “Many teenage women experience unintended or unwanted pregnancie­s, although for some this may be planned and a positive life choice.

“Scotland has historical­ly had a higher rate of teenage pregnancy than most other northern and western European countries and reducing unintended teenage pregnancy is a priority for the Scottish Government.”

Across North Lanarkshir­e, there were 68 under- 16 pregnancie­s between 2014 and 2016, while there were 56 in neighbouri­ng South Lanarkshir­e.

Among females aged 15 to 17, there were 401 pregnancie­s between 2014 and 2016 in North Lanarkshir­e, with another 344 in South Lanarkshir­e.

And among females ages 15 to 19, there were 352 pregnancie­s between 2014 and 2016 in North Lanarkshir­e, while South Lanarkshir­e had 302.

Across Lanarkshir­e as a whole, the 42 under-16 pregnancie­s equates to 3.9 girls out of 1000 in that age bracket getting pregnant.

That is the third-highest rate out of Scotland’s dozen health boards. Fife is the highest at 4.9 per 100, followed by Tayside on 4.1 per 1000. The Scottish average is 3.1 per 1000.

Among those aged 15 to 17, there were 21.9 pregnancie­s out of every 1000 females across Lanarkshir­e in 2016. The Scottish average is 18.9 per 1000.

And among those aged 15 to 19, there were 35.2 pregnancie­s out of every 1000 females in 2016. The Scottish average is 31.6 per 1000.

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