lindaclaire

hiya guys.

I was just wondering about the rate of teenage pregnancies in australia compared to england, it seems so accepted in england to have a baby at such a young age, i am 19 and 6 of my close friends have children, and were almost congratulated when they got pregnant, some as young as 15. Is this such a common practice in australia or is it more, for want of a better word, tabboo?

This is just a question out of pure curiosity rather than anything else.

cheers

Boomerang

Hello there,

In Australia the goverment advises to have babies, one for the dad one for mum and one for the country I am not joking

Regards,
Pedro

uk+kiwi

Don't fret - I think it also depends on where you are in England and on your personal situation such as whether or not you go to university. I was the first one of my friends to get pregnant, having my first child when I was 28. I don't think anyone would have congratulated me if I had been 19.

snowbunny

Yes, a lot depends on the environment you're in. A university environment, or a job in which people are career orientated is less likely to have people becoming parents. Please: you're only young once! Enjoy yourself, travel, go to gigs, sleep over at friends (male or female, just be responsible! ) .... take this time for YOU because once you have a baby, your life is not solely your own.

I can't answer your question as regards Australia. In the US teen motherhood is extremely frowned upon, though of course it does happen. However, one main difference is that there is very little in the way of government assistance to ANYONE, including teen mums, and a teen who becomes a mother is highly unlikely to make it out of poverty during her lifetime. There are exceptions to this, if you're highly motivated to get an education and a career, but if you're that highly motivated, why not start now on education and/or career?

Don't do the "done" thing, do the things that YOU want to do.

Love from a Yank,
Amy

bluenose3

I thought that it depended on contraception? Or at the very least the rythm method.

Shellfish

There was a report in the paper not too long ago that the average age for first time mothers in Aus is 30 and that teen pregnancies are at their lowest in about 16 years. You see young mums in Melbourne but not that often (from what I have seen). Sorry, I can't give you any stats.

ABCDiamond

This link may help: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/b...y?OpenDocument

One quote was:
The rate of teenage pregnancies in Australia has declined significantly over a number of years and has been stable over recent years. Only five per cent of children are now born to women aged 19 years and under.

However.... some areas are worse than others. There is a school in Plumpton NSW that has hit the newspaper headlines due to it's teenage-mothers program.

A 1999 quote from: http://www.abc.net.au/plumpton/stories/s802729.htm

RReed

The rate is lower in Australia. The average age of having your first baby has gone up to over 30 - resulting in other problems.

As with the uk 'early' motherhood is related to a number of factors: life expectation, social and cultural influences. Teenagers often choose motherhood because they have no other expectations or goals. Those wanting to go to uni and have a career will either be more careful, or terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

As a midwife in the UK I cared for lots of teenagers having babies. It was culturally normal to them. Their mother's had them at 16, and their grandmother's helped to bring them up. Their mother's (now older) will help them with thier baby, and so on. These teenagers are often well supported by family and adapt well to motherhood.

Women who waited until their 30's had far more trouble adapting to motherhood. They usually had greater expectations of themselves and less support around them. They had spent years in control of thier lives and careers, with time to spend on leisure and partners. These women had a harder time physically and mentally coping with the demands of a new baby.

There is a fair bit of UK research suggesting that teenage mothers often do well later because of the experience of motherhood, ie. get themselves careers, study etc. Despite the general stereotypes etc. about them.

As with everything - you can't generalise. Each individual will have a different story - people rarely fit into boxes.

We came from 'middle-class' families and we had our first baby when we were 18. This worked well for us despite the financial struggle and studying/building a career with small children. We 'grew up' alongside them, and having never experienced cars, holidays etc we didn't miss them. I was a much better mother at 18 than I am/would be now. I am far more selfish now

Having said that - I'm not sure how I would respond to either of my kids starting a family young :scared:

Rachel