Teenage schoolgirl giving birth Video

A shocking video has been released by Leicester NHS Trust showing a teenage schoolgirl giving birth on a school playing field. The video was designed to deliberately “shock” and “provoke” young people as part of a hard hitting campaign by NHS Leicester to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies in the city. 

The video is filmed in such a way that it looks like amateur mobile phone footage but ends with a hard hitting message. Tim Rideout, chief executive of NHS Leicester City, told Sky News: “We know this film is hard-hitting, but so are the numbers of under-18s getting pregnant in Leicester. ”The city’s Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood Partnership has been successful in cutting the numbers of young girls getting pregnant. ”But to make a long-term difference we need more education on safe sex.”

The video was posted onto YouTube and was viewed by more than 70,000 people before being taken off following a flurry of complaints but a version of the video is still available to view, entitled “Teenage Kicks”,  although it comes with the following warning: 

“Teenagers filming fights on their camera phones is as old as happy slapping, but this footage from a school in Leicester is pretty shocking by anyone’s standards.”

Despite the numerous protests, the video has attracted some support and praise with one viewer commenting; “I think you lot are beginning to take this problem seriously”. Another said the footage “looks scary” but is “a good idea”.

The trust claimed it decided to take the shock approach after the young people it asked said they wanted something memorable to get the message across.

While there is little doubt the video fulfils that objective, it is likely to be some time before we know whether the project will succeed in reducing pregnancy rates.