Young mums

[~TT40~]

well for technical purposes its anyone under the age of 21. but the younger ther more interest it has to me.

[~clover~]

I was 17 when I fell pg with DD1, 20 with DD2. Had them at 18 & 21.
IME there is no real support, too much descrimination. Its not easy. Being young is hard enough, add peoples assumptions to it, & the lack of people to talk to & support.

[The[cookie]Doctor]

I was 19 when I fell pregnant with DS.
I've also had severe PND and that was even more of a struggle through the awful systems.
Let me know if you want any info. xo

[Lulu]

It would be a good idea to contact Young Mothers support networks directly and ask them about it too?

[~TT40~]

If anyone could share their stories that would be great, on here or feel free to pm or email me. I need as much information as possible and really want to know what people went through.
Lulu - yea I only know of one though where i am (midwife led) and one doula ran one. I'm in the ACT and I think that is all we have.
In regards to support what type of things would people want/find useful. Like do you think that going to highschools and talking to classmates and teachers about teenage pg would be useful?
also where would young people most likely find information, I know the internet is a big one...but this sort of thing it's only if you are looking for it. I'm sure alot of young mums wouldn't know if there any let alone what support is out there.

[Lulu]

Hmm, try googling Starting Out. It's here in Vic and might have some useful info.

[Early Kids]

Hi there Not sure exactly what sort of thing you are after... but here goes...

I was 20 when I fell pregnant with Brendan and 20 when he was born. He was also born premature (30+1 weeks) and in the first 9 months no-one (medical personal) took me seriously. I always felt looked down on and also got the feeling they were thinking 'what would you know'.

During my hospital stay(in Perth) prior to giving birth (I was admitted at 28 weeks after my waters broke) a lot of the midwives in the hospital treated me like a child, or as if I'd done something majorly wrong. I also got looks from them when I would say that Brendan was planned. One even saying to me, 'you are too young to plan a pregnancy'!

When I sought help for BFing issues I was simply told to 'keep trying' they wouldn't even listen to my concerns about Brendan and his feeding. It also didnt help that I lived in a small country town with only one doctor and one CHN. Neither of which had any experience with premature babies.

I've also found, in my experience, that when I say my children were born premature alot of people assume it was because of drugs, smoking, alcohol ect. I dont know whether thats because my age, or because of all the attention focussed on drugs and their relation to premature birth, or a combination of both.

I cant think of anything else right now... but feel free to PM me if you have any questions

Good luck.