Teenage mums

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Western Europe - yet when it comes to talking about sex and parenting young people are still reluctant to speak out. Children First for Health talked to two young mums about their experiences...

Ann Marie's story
"It was a complete surprise when the doctor told me. In fact I thought it was some kind of joke. My periods have always been irregular, so when I missed three in a row it never occurred I could actually be pregnant. Yet looking back all the signs were there: bellyache, feeling sick, eating tons and having cravings for chicken and chips in the early hours of the morning! It amazes me how naïve I was.

I'd just turned 16 and was in the middle of doing a GNVQ in travel and tourism. My aim was to travel the world and have a career. How could I have a baby when I was still living at home and had just split from my then boyfriend? But by then it was too late - a termination wasn't an option.

At first my ex didn't believe the baby was his, which was obviously upsetting. We'd been going out for a year, and during that time I had never been unfaithful. I thought he might eventually warm to the idea but instead he decided to take off.

My mum was brilliant throughout my pregnancy. You know if it wasn't for her and a pregnant teacher at college, I would never have continued with my studies and passed my GNVQ with merit. Just having people to share and talk through my experiences was really helpful. Particularly since I was the only child in my family and had never been around kids, let alone held a baby.

Daijon was born two months after my exams. I ended up having a water pool birth, which was great, and I was only in labour for about two hours. I guess that's one of the advantages of having a child young, your body can adjust to change quickly, so not too many stretch marks!

My life is very different now, but I do really enjoy being a mum. OK I can't go out with my friends every night and changing his nappy isn't a bed of roses. But what I have is very special and Dajion makes me laugh. Even some of my friends have admitted they're envious of my life style.

I'm going back to college in September to study an A level in business and law. I think it's important for me to have an education and one day I want to work in the city. I'm not bothered that Daijon's daddy isn't around because life is getting better everyday and who knows I might eventually meet someone. But for now my number one priority is Daijon."

Janay's Story
"I was going out with a guy for six months. We would fool around and have sex but I never thought you could get pregnant every time. I would go to the health clinic to check myself for STDs but for some reason I didn't care when it came to contraception. Like a lot of my friends I was just 'lax about it. And looking back I know I was silly but that's just the way it was.

When I found out the news I was actually happy. I thought having a baby was cool and luckily my mum was 100% percent behind me although she made it quite clear that this was going to be my child!

But then it all got a bit stressful coz my boyfriend wanted me to have an abortion and then left me. I also had my GCSEs and fell out big time with my mum. I guess my hormones were all over the place so I ended up moving out into a hostel, which was horrible and full of mice. I didn't want to bring up my child in that place so I did get a bit depressed for a while. The only good thing was meeting a lovely guy in there who was willing to take me on.

Surprisingly I passed my GCSEs with flying colours: I got a B in English and a C in maths. Then little Amarie arrived. I thought I'd made up his name but apparently in African it means little prince.

I have absolutely no regrets about having him. The only thing I would have liked to have done is finished my GCSEs with my friends and gone on holiday with them. But apart from that I feel sorted and being a young mum does have its benefits, I guess I've got a lot of energy to run around.

I got married a month ago and since moved into a nice two bedroom flat. I've decided to go to college in the evenings to study to be a legal secretary and during the day I'm looking for a customer services type job.

Just because you're a teenage mum doesn't mean your life stops here. Yeah it's probably a bit harder and a little different. But I like it."