A social milestone was passed in Dublin last year when, for the first time, just over half the births in one area were to unmarried women.
But births to teenagers accounted for only a small proportion of these. Indeed the proportion of teenage new mothers is falling throughout the Eastern Health Board region.
In all, just over one-third (34.3 per cent) of births in the EHB region of Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow are outside marriage.
But the proportion varies from one area to another within the region, the EHB's report on its childcare and family support services in 1998 shows.
The lowest incidence of births outside marriage (23.4 per cent of all births) was in the affluent area 1 which includes Foxrock, Dun Laoghaire, Killiney and Shankill.
But in area 7, which includes the north inner city and Ballymun, the proportion of births outside marriage was 50.5 per cent.
In Kildare, 24.9 per cent of births were outside marriage while the figure for Wicklow was 26.8 per cent.
Perhaps the most significant trend in this section of the report, however, is the fall in teenage births. The proportion of teenage births rose from 1995 to 1997: last year it fell in every area of the EHB.
Last year there were 1,001 births to teenagers, which was 420 fewer than the year before. In the region, births to teenagers were 4.3 per cent compared with 6.6 per cent the year before.
Even in the area where most births were outside marriage, the proportion of births to teenagers fell from 9.1 per cent in 1997 to 5.7 per cent last year.
One possible contributor to the fall is the EHB's teenage health initiative which has as its objective a reduction in the numbers of births to teenage mothers.
The initiative deals in group training programmes with relationships, decision-making and sexuality, in order, the report says, "to empower young people to consider their choices in relation to sexual decision-making".
The report says the programme "brought about significant changes in teenagers' knowledge, attitude and behaviour".
Much of this work has been with girls. Trainers have reported great difficulty in engaging boys and young men in the intervention programme, it says.
A programme aimed specifically at males is being devised, and more male trainers are to be recruited.
This preventive project is one of many programmes which the EHB has begun or expanded to prevent problems from reaching the point of breakdown. The programmes include:
A community mothers' programme in which 1,344 first- and second-time parents were supported by experienced, trained mothers, who include one Romanian and one Somalian mother.
A new approach to working with families of vulnerable children, in which all statutory and voluntary bodies work in a co-ordinated way with the families concerned.
The Family Support Service which has received an extra £200,000 for its work with vulnerable families. In many instances children who would have been taken into care were able to remain with their families as a result of the efforts of the family support workers, who generally are experienced mothers themselves.
Two Springboard projects have been established in Naas, Co Kildare, and Cherry Orchard, Dublin, to support families living in difficult situations. The Dublin project is managed in partnership with Barnardos.
pomorain@irish-times.ie
Weblink: http://www.ehb.ie (Eastern Health Board)