Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee has highest teenage pregnancy rate in Scotland

Communities Minister Aileen Campbell
Communities Minister Aileen Campbell

Dundee remains the teenage pregnancy capital of Scotland after seeing rates rise for the second year in a row.

Some 242 females aged 19 and under fell pregnant in the city in 2015, according to official figures published on Tuesday.

The rate of 51.8 births per 1,000 of the population – which was the second annual rise on the bounce – is the highest in Scotland.

However, Dundee has also witnessed the steepest drop nationally in teenage pregnancy rates since 2007, when nearly 500 young women and girls were with child.

In Scotland as a whole, the figures fell to a new low, with the pregnancy rate at 32.4 per 1,000.

Opposition parties said the data shines a light on the inequalities in Scottish society, with under-18s in the most deprived areas seven times more likely to fall pregnant than those in the wealthiest parts of the country.

Shadow health secretary Miles Briggs, for the Scottish Conservatives, said: “It’s extremely worrying that the social background of under 18 girls is so influential when it comes to the likelihood of their getting pregnant.

Monica Lennon, the Scottish Labour MSP, said: “The SNP promised to decrease the cycle of deprivation associated with teenage pregnancy but has failed to deliver.”

The Courier revealed on Tuesday that dozens of children have been prescribed the morning after pill over the last five years in Tayside, including girls as young as 12.

Ann Eriksen, from Tayside’s sexual health and blood borne viruses unit, said both Tayside and Dundee have seen a “dramatic decrease” in the rate of pregnancy in young women in the past decade.

She said they have a done a “great deal of work over many years”, inluding relationships education and parent support, to reduce unplanned pregnancies.

“However, whilst there has been an unprecedented reduction in teenage pregnancies overall, there is still a marked difference in young women living in the most deprived areas of Tayside,” she said.

“We need to continue to tackle the complex root causes of teenage pregnancy and for those young women who do become pregnant, enable them to carry on with their education and access parenting support such as that provided by the Family Nurse Partnership.”

Public health minister Aileen Campbell said: “I am pleased to see the rate of pregnancy in young people has continued to reduce for the eighth year in a row, falling by more than 43% under this government and reflecting the dedicated work of education, health and community services in giving young people more choice, support and advice.”