Babies born to UK mums over 40 hit record levels

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - The number of women over 40 having babies has reached record levels in England and Wales, while the rate for under-18s has fallen, statistics show.

The rate for over-40s increased fastest, by more than six percent to 12.2 per 1,000 women aged 40 to 44 between 2005 and 2006, the Office for National Statistics said.

The rate among teenagers aged 15 to 17 fell from 41.1 to 40.7 conceptions per 1,000 girls during the same period.

The underage rate fell by 1 percent to 7.7 per 1,000 of girls aged between 13 and 15.

The overall conception rate rose by nearly 3 percent to 78 conceptions per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44, with an estimated 866,800 conceptions in 2006.

The highest rate of conceptions was among women aged between 25 and 29, at 129 per 1,000 women of that age.

More than half the total conceptions, 56 percent, were outside marriage, but the births were registered by both parents.

Nearly four-fifths of all conceptions resulted in maternity.

(Reporting by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Steve Addison)