Information tables from the agencies working to prevent teenagers from getting pregnant were set up at City Hall.
HOLYOKE — The theme of the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy event at City Hall on Wednesday was the city's rate has dropped 14 percent, but still tops the state, so more work is needed.
"It's incredibly important that we continue to address this issue," Mayor Alex B. Morse said to a sun-splashed gathering on the City Hall lawn.
In 2010, the last period for which figures were available, Holyoke’s rate of teenage births dropped from 96.9 per 1,000 births to 83.6 per 1,000 births, a reduction of 14 percent. In 2010, 126 Holyoke teenagers gave birth.
That marked the sixth straight year in which Holyoke led the state in teen birth rate
Figures were compiled by the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, a private nonprofit agency.
Statewide, the number of teenage girls who gave birth in 2010 dropped to 3,907 from 4,538 births in 2009. That translates into a rate of 17.1 births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19.
The effort to reduce the number of teenagers getting pregnant is based on a campaign to inform young people they have choices other than getting pregnant such as using birth control and attending college or pursuing a career, officials said.
More than a dozen agencies try to spread the word to young people about making smart decisions as they participate in the Holyoke Adolescent Sexual Health and Pregnancy Prevention Accountability Committee.
Agencies include the mayor's office, the public schools, Girls Inc. of Holyoke, Holyoke Boys and Girls Club, Tapestry Health, Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Headstart Inc. and the city health, police and library departments.
Holyoke is in the third year of sharing a five-year, $5.5 million state grant with Springfield to reduce teen pregnancy rates.
The 14 percent drop shows the money and efforts are working, officials said.
"If we continue in this direction, we're going to continue making progress," Morse said.
"We may be number one in the state, but our rates are dropping and our rates continue to drop," said Katherine M. Liptak, a registered nurse and chairwoman of the Board of Health.
Shayla Macomber, 16, a freshman at Holyoke High School, told The Republican and MassLive.com a lot of pregnancies happen because guys talk insecure girls into having unprotected sex.
"Guys can say anything to girls these days to get what they want," Macomber said, sitting near the information tables.