'Teenage pregnancy rate high in UK'
Updated on 18 October 2007
The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe, according to a worldwide report into sexual and reproductive health.
It ranked the UK as one of the safest countries regarding health risks to women, but at 19th it still lagged behind countries including Croatia, Estonia, Cuba and the Czech Republic.
The report's authors warned that teenagers, who often had unplanned pregnancies, ran a higher risk of complications in pregnancy and childbirth.
A Measure of Survival: Calculating Women's Sexual and Reproductive Risk found that the lifetime risk of maternal death is over 250 times higher in developing countries than in developed countries.
It ranked 130 countries, comprising 96% of the world population, into categories from highest to lowest sexual and reproductive risk for women, highest risk being placed at number one and lowest ranked at 130.
Report authors looked at factors including HIV prevalence, teenage birth rates, maternal deaths and infant mortality rates.
The Netherlands had the lowest risk of all, ranked at 130, while the UK was placed at 112.
Women in the lowest risk category tended to have high incomes and the risk of death from pregnancy or delivery was "extremely low", the report said, infant mortality rates were rare and contraceptive use was high.
Switzerland, Singapore, Germany and Belgium were also among the safest countries. In general, women's sexual and reproductive health was found to be riskiest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Women are at highest sexual and reproductive health risk in Niger, ranked at number one Chad, Mali, Yemen and Ethiopia are also in the highest risk category.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
