Image: Warren Ouyang
MTV’s 16 and Pregnant is about to begin a new series, last year BBC 3 aired a 3rd series of Underage and Pregnant, the sight of a stretched school jumper concealing a swollen belly greets us at every channel hop. You could be forgiven for thinking the watchword for this generation of teenagers was ‘fecund’.
Not so, whilst we are in the midst of a baby boom, according to statistics it is older women, in their 30s and 40s who are swelling the pregnant ranks. The Office of National Statistics released figures that showed conceptions had fallen in under-18s to 34,633 in 2010. In 2009 the number of conceptions was 38,259, a reduction of 9.5% Under-16s also show a drop in conceptions, falling from 7,158 to 6,674.
Not so, whilst we are in the midst of a baby boom, according to statistics it is older women, in their 30s and 40s who are swelling the pregnant ranks. The Office of National Statistics released figures that showed conceptions had fallen in under-18s to 34,633 in 2010. In 2009 the number of conceptions was 38,259, a reduction of 9.5% Under-16s also show a drop in conceptions, falling from 7,158 to 6,674.