Teen pregnancy rates in Northants are half of that in 2005 stats show - but more terminate birth

The Office for National Statistics has revealed that 273 Northamptonshire women and girls under the age of 18 gave birth in 2015, compared to 554 in 2005.

However 46.9 per cent of those led to an abortion across the county, up from 43 per cent 10 years ago.

Chief executive, of sexual health charity FPA, Natika Halil, said the decreasing number of pregnancies are proof the UK's Government-led Teen Pregnancy Strategy has been a success.

“We welcome the continued reduction of teenage pregnancy rates for the East Midlands," he said.

"This reduction is thanks to the hard work of health and education professionals, and the legacy of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy – a key component of which was improving access to contraception."

In the county Kettering had the highest conception rate with 27.8. of every 1,000 women in the age bracket giving birth in 2015, the latest year of figures available.

Northampton saw the highest number of teenage pregnancies overall at 91.

Daventry saw the highest abortion rate. A total of 66.7 per cent of all teenage pregnancies were terminated, the stats reveal.

However Mrs Halil believes recent dramatic cuts to contraception services across the country could see teenage pregnancies increase rapidly.

The UK Government has cut public health budgets by £800 million over the past six years and research by the Advisory Group on Contraception (AGC) has found that in 2015–2016, more than one in six local authorities decreased spending on contraception services.

The FPA believes that a 10 per cent cut in spending on sexual health and contraception services across the UK could see teenage pregnancy rates going back to 2003 levels, "undoing more than a decade of hard work," Mrs Hali said.

The UK still has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe.