Fewer teenagers having babies

[Posted: Wed 30/06/2010 by Deborah Condon www.irishhealth.com]

The number of teengers having babies in Ireland is falling, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicate.

According to the office's Yearly Summary 2009, last year, 2,223 teenagers gave birth compared to 2,426 in 2008. In 2001, the figure was 3,087.

The statistics show that of the 2,223 teenagers who gave birth last year, 50 were under the age of 15, while 151 were aged 16.

Commenting on the figures, Caroline Spillane, director of the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme, said that they indicate that initiatives to increase young people's knowledge about relationships and sexuality ‘are having an impact in reducing teenage pregnancy'.

"When we were first established, parents consistently told us how difficult they found it to bring up the subject of sex with their children and asked for help in talking about the issue. Parents are to be commended for making great efforts to give their children the information they need to make healthy decisions about relationships and sex," Ms Spillane said.

Meanwhile according to the Yearly Summary 2009, there were 74,278 births last year, a fall of 787 on 2008's figure. However this is still almost 37% higher than 2000's figure, when 54,239 babies were born.

Four in 10 births were to first time mothers, while one in three births were outside of marriage. The highest percentage of births outside marriage occurred in Limerick City (49%), while the lowest percentage occurred in both Galway County and Leitrim (23%).

The figures show that almost 29,000 deaths were registered last year, including 240 infants and 169 babies aged under four weeks.

Overall, diseases of the circulatory system, e.g. heart disease, accounted for over 9,600 deaths, while 8,396 deaths were due to cancer.

Last year, 527 people died as a result of suicide. Of these, 422 were men and 105 were women. The figures show that four of the people who committed suicide last year were under the age of 14 - three boys and one girl.

Meanwhile the estimated population of the country as of April 2009 was 4,459,300.