Does access to contraception raise teenage pregnancy rates?
Nursing Times 24 March 2009 With the teenage pregnancy rate higher that it was a decade ago, David Paton asks whether easy access to contraceptive services is contributing to this problem Since the government launched its Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in 1999, millions of pounds have been spent on access to ‘confidential sexual health services’ for young people. Many nurses are uncomfortable with providing such services to children under 16, especially without parental knowledge, but do so believing that they are helping to reduce the risks of early pregnancy. Unfortunately, the latest data shows that pregnancy and abortion rates for under-16s are higher now than when the strategy was published. Given this, nurses may be questioning whether they have been right to go along with this policy. It will be helpful to understand what the academic evidence says on the issue. We have a wealth of evidence, from both randomised trials and population-level studies, indicating that access to contrace
