BABIES BORN TO TEENS in Barbados are at their lowest in more than three decades.
According to statistics from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), where the vast majority of deliveries take place, 283 babies were born to mothers between 13 and 19 years old last year.
It was the lowest number recorded at the hospital since 1980 and represented 11.86 per cent of total births, which arealso declining consistently (see table).
Former Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA) director George Griffith noted that the actual teen birth rates would even be lower if 18- and 19-year-olds were not counted among the statistics.
Pointing out that those two ages accounted for the bulk of pregnancies, he argued that they were really adults and should not be recorded as teens.
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