THE Gwent Valleys have the most teenage pregnancies in Wales, the Argus can reveal. Blaenau Gwent had the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country in 1998-2000 - 72.8 per 1,000, or just under one in ten teenagers aged under 18. Caerphilly had the second highest.
The figures, provided by the Office of National Statistics, show Torfaen and Newport were also both above the Welsh average of 52.4.
The only authority in Greater Gwent below the average was Monmouthshire - which had the lowest teen pregnancy rates in Wales at 29.
One such teenage mum Kelly Morgan, from Nantyglo, discovered she was pregnant when she was just 14. Kelly, who is studying for her GCSEs at Brynmawr Comp-rehensive, remembers how scared she felt.
"I didn't know what to do. It was such a huge decision to make, but my mum and dad were so supportive," she said.
"I couldn't get excited - I was just scared, scared about the birth and also about looking after a tiny baby at my age."
But not all teenage pregnancies involve single mums, and teen pregnancy rates are falling in Wales, according to Assembly Health and Social Services Minister Jane Hutt, who says initiatives introduced in recent years are helping.
PICTURED: Brynmawr schoolgirl Kelly Morgan and her daughter Caitlin
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