Teen Pregnancy Numbers Dwindling
The number of under-20s giving birth has decreased by more than half over the last four years, according to statistics from the National Institute for Health Development, while the abortion rate continues to decline.
Kärt Allvee, head of the institute's Medical Birth Registry and Abortion Registry, told Postimees on Tuesday that the reasons for the drop lie in ad campaigns, sex education in schools, the availability of contraceptives and information, and a decline in the number of females entering birth-giving age.
In 2008, 1,043 females aged 10 to 19 gave birth, but only 491 such cases were recorded last year, according to Statistics Estonia figures. Abortion numbers for the same age range were also down, from 1,260 in 2008 to 654 last year.