More women over 40 are conceiving

A "record high" number of women over the age of 40 are conceiving, according to new figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also said that the rate of teenage conceptions had fallen.

The figures show that overall the conception rate rose by nearly 3 per cent between 2005 and 2006 from 76 to 78 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15-44.

The rate for women over 40-years-old increased the most, by more than 6 per cent from 11.5 per 1,000 women in 2005 to 12.2 in 2006.

For the same period the under-18 rate fell from 41.4 to 40.7 conceptions per 1,000 girls aged 15-17.

The Government is determined to halve the number of under-18 pregnancies by 2010 using a baseline figure set in 1998.

A spokesman for sexual health charity Brook said: "Quite a lot has happened in the last two years and we know what building bricks need to be in place.

"There are four main strands: High quality clinical service, a high quality outreach service, you need really good quality sexual education in schools and you need a strong lead from local authorities.

"We need to have this across the country to really bring teenage pregnancy levels down."

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.