Sex ed

The City Council in Coventry are trying to focus on promoting long-term, reversible contraceptives such as the implant to under 18's in their city in order to combat the high teen pregnancy rate.

 

The contraceptive implant , for example, lasts for up to three years or the coil which can even last 10, and the injection which lasts from 8-13 weeks.

 

In February this year, the city was named one of the worst in the UK for teenage pregnancies. The Office for National Statistics said that in 2013, 227 girls under 18 got pregnant.

Coventry is actually the ninth highest out of all the local authorities in Wale and England, this represents 39.5 pregnancies for every 1,000 women in this age group. Just 3 years ago, 2012, it was only 28th.

 

After success with contraceptives in Birmingham, a new Sexual Health board is going to try to implement the same promotion of long-term contraceptives in the city to improve the rates.

Now a new Sexual Health Programme Board is to focus on the issue after monitoring contraceptive-based successes in Birmingham

 

One report to the Coventry City Council stated:

 

“We will undertake a fact finding visit to Birmingham, as well as engaging with other comparable local authorities who have seen such decreases.We know that provision of long-acting reversible contraception to young people in primary care in Coventry is decreasing, on the background of increases nationally.”

 

They are also increasing the presence in schools, with themed lessons, help for parents and free condoms and training staff and adults how to talk to children about sex.

They are also using the social networks to target this generation directly with information about pregnancy, contraceptives etc, focussing on those that are particularly at risk.