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Female doctors can reduce teen pregnancy

LONDON: Teenage pregnancy rates in Britain are lower in areas where there are more women working as family doctors, new research showed on Friday.

The study, by researchers at the University of Nottingham, analysed the numbers of teenage pregnancies at more than 820 general practice doctor surgeries in an area of the country where teenage pregnancy rates are among the highest.

Practices with a female doctor had 91 percent of the rate found in other practices, while those with a doctor who was both female and under the age of 36 had just 75 percent of the rate, the research, published in the British medical Journal, found.

"Female doctors tend to have longer consultations and handle more problems per consultation and tend to be more communicative and patient-centred," the researchers wrote.

"Female doctors report less difficulty in discussing sexual problems with teenagers and are more likely to provide information about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and the use of condoms."

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe, with more than 8,000 girls under 16 getting pregnant each year. The high rate is often associated with children who have teenage mothers themselves, or have divorced parents or come from deprived and poorly educated backgrounds.-Reuters