Teen pregnancy rate second highest in country

OLDHAM’S teen pregnancy rate has risen to become the highest in Greater Manchester and second highest nationally.

Office of National Statistics figures show Oldham recorded 53 pregnancies to girls aged 15-17 in the three months to June 2014 - 47.1 for every 1,000 girls in the age range. Only St Helens recorded a higher rate of 48.6.

Oldham’s quarterly figure rose from the previous three months, which recorded 34.1 per 1,000 girls.

Yearly figures for the 12 months to June 2014, also showed a rise in the number of teen pregnancies in Oldham with a rate of 37.8 in 1,000 - a significant increase from the 2013 figures, with 141 pregnancies or a rate of 30.6.

In England and Wales, there were 5,740 pregnancies in the three months to June, 2014, a rate of 23.3 per 1,000 women, compared with 25.4 in the same period the previous year.

The North-West, on 16 per cent, accounted for the greatest proportion of pregnancies