Figures published today show the biggest drop for five years in teenage conception rates, confirmation that the Government’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is working. The decline in the under 18 conception rate in England contrasts sharply with increases in the conception rate for all other age groups, highlighting the impact of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. I would like to congratulate the 89 per cent of local authorities where rates are continuing to fall - further evidence that where areas apply our Teenage Pregnancy Strategy effectively, we are getting results. In areas such as Torbay, Stockton-on-Tees, Enfield, Norfolk and Leeds teenage pregnancy rates still remain unacceptably high and Beverley Hughes, along with the Department of Health, will be looking closely at what more these and other areas need to do to get their rates down. read more

Technorati Tags: teenage, pregnancy, strategy, areas, local, rates, pregnancy news

In the early part of that decade, 44 percent continued to work during pregnancy; that rose to 67 percent among women who gave birth to their first child between 2001 and 2003. The share who quit work before or after giving birth dropped to 25 percent, from about 36 percent in the late 1980s. Fully 80 percent of the women who worked during their pregnancy from 2001 to 2003 continued to do so into the last month of pregnancy, compared with 35 percent in 1961-65. In the early part of this decade, 55 percent returned to work within six months after giving birth; that figure was 14 percent in the early 1960s. The share who said they returned to work at lower pay declined to just under 2 percent in the latest period from a little more than 4 percent in the early 1990s. The census analysis of maternity leave and employment said the percent of first births to women 30 and older increased sharply, to 24 percent in 2000 from 4 percent in 1970. read more

Technorati Tags: percent, work, pregnancy, women, early, birth, pregnancy news

The findings — the first of their kind — are a major advance in learning more about the cause of hypertension in pregnancy, according to the authors of the study, which was published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and amp; Gynaecology . Over 10 years, researchers from Adelaide’s Women and amp; Children’s Hospital and the University of Adelaide detected the presence of viral nucleic acid in heel-prick blood samples from 1,326 newborns — more than 400 of whom were diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Previously, the Adelaide group identified a link between viral infection in pregnancy, genetic mutations in genes controlling inflammatory and blood clotting processes, and the development of cerebral palsy. They also found an association between several hereditary gene mutations and changes in inflammatory proteins that may cause dysfunction and constriction of blood vessels in the placenta and brain, resulting in increased blood pressure during pregnancy. The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about high blood pressure during pregnancy . read more

Technorati Tags: , blood, pregnancy, pressure, 10, 2008, pregnancy news