NEW figures show the number of teenage mothers in Barrow is among the highest in the country.
The town has one of the worst under-18s conception rates in England – with 35.9 in every 1,000 girls in the district falling pregnant before their 18th birthday in 2014, an increase on the previous year's total.
The picture is different in neighbouring South Lakeland where 12 girls per 1,000 were pregnant before their 18th birthday while in Copeland it was 16 per 1,000.
Nationally, the number of teenage pregnancies has fallen 6.8 per cent in 12 months according to the latest data available – for 2014 – released by the Office of National Statistics last week.
However, the information puts Barrow in second place in the North West league table for the number of pregnancies in 15 to 17-year-olds per 1,000.
It is also now among 35 districts with the highest teen conception statistics nationwide.
WHERE TO GO FOR EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION
Cumbria County Council public health lead, Councillor Ian Stewart, said sex education had an increasingly important role to play in ensuring young girls were aware of how to prevent pregnancy as well as stopping the spread of sexually transmitted infections.
He added the newest figures published covered a period that saw local authorities took over responsibility for public health issues like teenage pregnancy and sex education programmes.
Councillor Ian Stewart, Cumbria County Council public health lead Cllr Stewart told the Evening Mail: "These things take time to take effect.
"We need to make sure we find a way to get the message through about contraception to teenagers without sniggering and innuendo getting in the way.
"I believe there are actions being taken to help reduce this disappointing set of data for Barrow."
According to the ONS, the number of pregnancies recorded for girls under 16 in Barrow was six in every 1,000 – of which around 40 per cent resulted in a termination.
In Copeland, the figure was five per 1,000 resulting in a 70 per cent termination rate while in South Lakeland the number dropped to three per 1,000 with a 71 per cent opting for a termination.
They were among a total of 4,160 girls below 16 who became pregnant across the country during the year.
Councillor Brendan Sweeney, public health lead for Barrow Borough Council Cllr Brendan Sweeney, public health lead for Barrow Borough Council, said work to raise the aspirations and ambitions of young people in the area was now under way.
"The figures for Barrow are higher than a lot of other areas but there is a great deal of work going on to address this.
"This involves raising the aspirations of our teenagers and young people which I really hope will enable us to see a reduction in the number of teenager pregnancies over the next few years."
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