Nearly half of teenage pregnancies are unplanned and around half of these result in a termination. While for some young women having a child can be a positive turning point in their lives, for many teenagers bringing up a child is extremely difficult and often results in poor outcomes for both the teenage parent and the child, in terms of the baby’s health, the mother’s emotional health and wellbeing and the likelihood of both the parent and child living in long-term poverty. Teenage mothers are less likely to finish their education, are more likely to bring up their child alone and have a higher risk of poor mental health than older mothers. The children of teenage mothers have an increased risk of living in poverty and poor quality housing and are more likely to have accidents and behavioural problems.
Infant mortality rates for babies born to teenage mothers are around 60% higher than for babies born to older mothers.
Risk factors for becoming a teenage parent include:
- poverty
- being a child in care
- children of teenage mothers
- low educational attainment
- truanting or exclusion from school
- 16-17 year olds not being in education, employment or training
- being a victim of sexual abuse
- mental health problems and involvement in crime.
There has been a significant reduction in teenage conceptions both nationally and locally since 1999. In Greenwich there are high levels of teenage pregnancy overall and the levels have been falling consistently since 2007. Across Greenwich the local Health Vising Service is working with teenage mothers and their babies to ensure positive outcomes for both mother and child.
Source: Public Health Outcomes Framework
In 2017 the under 18 conception rate for England was 17.8 per thousand women aged 15 to 17; this is the lowest rate recorded since comparable statistics were first produced in 1969.
In Greenwich, there has been a 66% reduction in teenage conceptions from 62.6 per 1000 women aged 15-17 in 1998 to 20.9 per 1000 in 2016. there has been a slight increase to 24.7 per 1,000 in 2017.
While this progress is really positive, there remains significant variation in the under 18 conception rate in young women across the borough. Abbeywood, Glyndon and Woolwich Riverside have under 18 conception rates that are significantly higher than the national average of 18.8 per 1000, while Blackheath Westcombe and Eltham North have significantly lower rates.
Source: ONS