According to official figures for England and Wales, the number of abortions among girls aged 16 increased by 10% in 2007 to 4,376. According to an article on the BBC, the number of abortions in the under 16s has risen by 27% in the past decade.

Gill Frances, chair of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group, said “We need high quality sex and relationships education at school and at home and effective contraception.”

Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said “Contraception plays a vital role in preventing teenage pregnancy and earlier this year I announced a further investment of £26.8m to improve women’s access to contraception and help reduce the number of abortions, repeat abortions and teenage pregnancies”.

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According to The National Association for Premenstrual Syndrome (NAPS), the UK charity for people with PMT, there’s been a rise in the number of young women being told they’ve got depression when their symptoms are actually linked to their periods and don’t last all month. Those being misdiagnosed as clinically depressed may be prescribed anti-depressants by their GP, which can be strong and addictive.

Jackie Howe, who runs the charity, admitted that it can be hard for women to recognise that their symptoms are linked to their menstrual cycle, and women’s health spokesperson Sarah Jarvis agreed that a diagnosis can be difficult, saying: “The psychological symptoms of PMT and depression are very similar and so yes there can be a temptation to offer them anti-depressant drugs, because they can work for both”.

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