Although the rate of teenage pregnancy has decreased substantially in the last few years, there are still plenty of teenagers becoming mothers yearly. The U.S. still has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates of all the industrialized countries. But, welfare for single mothers has significantly decreased over the years; a teenage single mother still has to find the resources she needs to overcome multiple challenges that now lie in her path.

Medical care is of the biggest importance in the life of a teenage single mother. Most teenagers have poor nutritional habits and often drink alcohol and smoke. These habits can adversely affect the health of her baby making the care for it much more challenging in the years to come. In addition, a teenage mother may not be biologically mature enough because of her pelvis size to birth a child naturally and may require a Cesarean. Getting the teenage single mother good prenatal care is vitally important, not only for her health but also for the health of her baby.

Once the child is born, the young single mother must look towards establishing proper support systems to be able to go back and complete her high school education. This may mean that she starts working to earn money to pay for childcare while she is also completing her high school education. Very rarely is a teenage mother lucky enough to have her own built-in familial support system that is willing to look after her children while she goes to school.

Sometimes ethnic and familial considerations will consider an unwed single mother a disgrace to the family. In which case, she may be abandoned or even at risk for harm in her own home. Different cultures view unwed pregnancies differently. If she is without the family support system a teenage single mother may be facing homelessness as well as pregnancy.

The ability of a teenage single mother to locate resources for herself and her child is paramount to their survival. Federal assistance is available but many programs now advocate workfare instead of welfare, a difficult proposition for a teenage single mother with no job skills or education. Many faith-based programs are stepping in to try to bridge the gap between the enormous needs of a teenage mother and community resources available. Unfortunately, there are far too many young single mothers for the services to be adequate for all single mothers.

The Federal government recognizes that teenage pregnancy is an issue that affects the well being of this country, however, they have focused on preventing teenage pregnancies, which has been highly successful. The number of teenage single mothers has decreased significantly, but statistics still show that 1 in 3 teenagers becomes pregnant before the age of 20. There is still much that can be done for these teenagers as they seek to overcome multiple challenges that they face before them in life.

The Challenges Of A Teenage Single Mother is a post from: Single Moms Guide

The philosophy that the Federal government currently upholds for teenage mothers is to promote values of abstinence, education, and paternity identification. With that in mind, many services for single mothers on the Federal level have been curtailed or delegated to local agencies. Private organizations have also stepped in to fill the gap.

Although Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) is still available, the requirement that a teenage mother complete high school or live at home in a supervised setting means that childcare and housing must be available for the teenage mother. Either she must work to pay for childcare, or she must find programs that help her to get assistance in this area. If her family is not supporting her and has turned her out on the streets, then housing and childcare both need to be met and become her first priority.

Housing

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has programs to establish Second Chance housing for teenage mothers. These are usually delegated to local housing apartment complexes or communities. Included in the services for young single mothers, among many other services, the housing offers:

* Adult supervision
* Parenting classes
* Access to childcare and health services
* Available transportation
* Mentoring
* Education and job training

The need for a myriad of services for young single mothers to support them as they face the challenge of parenthood while finishing their educations is immense.

Mentoring

Other local agencies may offer mentoring or foster grandparents to help in learning valuable parenting skills or to provide daycare while the mother is in school. Teenage mothers have not even matured themselves and they have to learn how to become responsible for another human being. The mentoring program services for young single mothers provide emotional support while passing on skills in infant care and decreasing the chance of child abuse.

The Public School System

Some schools, recognizing the need for services for young single mothers, have on-site childcare programs. Some even allow the mother to bring the child to class with them, but these are few and far between. In addition, a teenage mother may feel the stigma of being an unwed teenage mother and refuse to continue her education. However, there are local services that do try to provide a support system and services for young single mothers.

Other local agencies that can provide services for young single mothers beyond shelter and childcare are local hospital and clinics. They may have special prenatal and postpartum programs for young single mothers. The local branch of the Health and Human services office also can pinpoint more resources for young single mothers and WIC (Women, Infant, Children) can provide nutritional support for infants and their mothers.

Look To Local Programs For Services For Young Single Mothers is a post from: Single Moms Guide

Once a single mother has housing and childcare resources taken care of, her next mission is to make sure the child has proper heath and nutritional services. On a limited income and with no parenting skills training, teenage mothers may not understand the importance of feeding and caring for a baby properly. Having a list of the young single mother resources for health and nutrition will help both the baby and mother to survive and thrive.

Breastfeeding

Some young single mothers may want to breastfeed. Studies have shown that breastfeeding provides the infant with a strengthened immune system. However, many teenage single mothers may not know how to breastfeed or may fear that breastfeeding will damage the size or shape of their breasts. The La Leche League is a resource to get information for breastfeeding and in some places they do take an interest in helping young single mothers by having specialized meetings for them. There are few other young single mother resources that address the benefits of breastfeeding as well as the La Leche league.

WIC

The WIC (Women, Infants, Children) is a federally funded program to provide low-income women with nutritious foods, nutrition counseling, and referrals to health care. Typically, the program services children under 5 years of age and the mother must qualify for the program based on income and other factors. The program is administered at the state level and one needs to contact the state’s social service programs to register. As far as young single mother resources go, this is one of the best nutritional assistance program the Federal government sponsors.

Food Stamps

By registering the state’s department of social services, the teenage mother may have other young single mother resources made available to her, like food stamps. Food stamps are now given in the form of an Electronic Benefits Transfer card which works much like a debit card as is quite discrete. Applying for services at the social services agency takes time and patience, but can provide a level of assistance that is dependable for a short period of time.

National School Lunch Program

Public schools give the opportunity to low-income residents to have their children participate in the national school lunch program. Breakfast and special milk programs are also available. These programs are subsidized by the Federal government and are there to insure that children have adequate nutrition while in school.

Local Food Banks

Local food banks offer a limited supply of groceries for those that apply. The food banks are usually privately funded but the amount of paperwork to fill out is minimal compared to applying for food stamps. In a pinch, many families rely on their local food banks to fill their pantries when they are short on cash. Local food banks are one of the most valuable young single mother resources as it frees up cash for other necessities of life.

Young Single Mother Resources For Health And Nutrition is a post from: Single Moms Guide

Most families do not want to hear that their teenage daughter is pregnant. However, teenagers of different cultures can face more severe expectations. When a teenage single mother’s family is an ethnic minority or of a particular faith that has cultural beliefs that value virginity or has specific maternal expectations, her choices may become limited and her life planned for her from the moment she announces she is pregnant. In worst-case scenarios, her family may not support her and turn her out as a disgrace, or seek to harm her before the child is born.

The Issue Of Virginity

Some cultures won’t talk about sex in the home. Sex education, especially for females, is not encouraged. However, the cultural standard of virginity may be upheld. These leaves many females in these cultures that value virginity not enough information on protection of birth control should they become sexually active.

In addition, once a teenager becomes pregnant, the teenage single mother’s family may insist the adolescent marry early or live at home to raise the child. Adoption and abortion may not be considered options in different cultures or faiths. Either way, the teenage mother’s education is curtailed and her chances at becoming a stable, independent provider for her children are stalled.

Other cultures may find the teenage mother’s condition so offensive to their family honor that they may try to harm the expectant mother or abandon her. It’s important to have counseling for the teenage single mother’s family as well as the adolescent mother to take into account cultural and religious belief systems if this is the case.

The Issue Of Marriage

In some cultures, a teenage must marry to protect the family honor. It doesn’t matter what her age is, if she’s pregnant, she has to marry. In the U.S., minors arent allowed to marry without the consent of their parents. Marriage is seen differently in other cultures, and arranged marriages for a teenage girl to a much older men are arranged to avoid having a teenage single mother, a cause of much disgrace in other cultures.

However, once she is pregnant a teenage single mother’s family will pressure her into marrying if their culture demands it. The lack of support for unwed mothers in other cultures causes emotional trauma and can lead to a suicide of a young single mother.

Counselors and schools that deal with other cultures are often not aware of the difference in how different cultures influences the expectations of a teenage single mother’s family. As more and more immigrants come to America to seek a better life, the issue of teenage single mothers and the different cultural norms and expectations can make getting help for teen mothers a more sensitive issue requiring more in-depth cultural understanding and counseling.

A Teenage Single Mother’s Family Cultural Expectations is a post from: Single Moms Guide

While many strides have been made to lower the teenage pregnancy rate, America still has one of the highest in all the industrialized countries. It’s estimated that 1 in 3 teenagers becomes pregnant before the age of 20. And pregnancy is the biggest factor leading female teenagers to dropout of high school. From there it becomes a rocky road indeed, with an estimated 1.5% of teenage mothers ever achieving a college degree before they are 30 years old.

It’s obvious that early pregnancy heavily impacts the future of a young single mother. And, education loss is one of the key issues that seem to limit her potential to earn and thus her ability to better her circumstances. Without a high school degree, a single mother’s job choices can be limited to jobs that pay minimum wage. This makes her dependent on other sources of assistance for childcare and health care costs. A young single mother, and education loss, spells a lifetime of poverty.

Some public schools are so concerned about the potential ramifications of the teenage dropout rate for a young single mother, and education loss that limits future earnings potential, that they are providing on-site childcare as an incentive to stay in school. Others, allow the mothers to bring the infant to class with them. But, these are the exceptions, and not the norm.

The descent into poverty without proper education and job training is quick for a young single mother. And education issues continue with her offspring, with studies showing that the children of single mothers often go on to have difficulty in school as well, with about 50% of them being more likely to repeat a grade.

If a young single mother does have the support of her family, she may be able to continue attending classes. However, it’s possible she will also need to work to support her child. It takes a determined young woman to meet the additional challenges of child rearing while going to school and working at the same time. If her family cannot help, there are private organizations that can provide a foster grandparent for a young single mother. And education can continue this way by freeing the young woman to go to classes while the foster grandparent watches her child.

The Federal government currently is focusing on abstinence, supervised homes, and paternity verification for single mothers. There is educational assistance at the college level, but very little at the high school level for a young single mother. And education cannot proceed to higher levels if the lower levels are not completed first.

Young Single Mother And Education Loss is a post from: Single Moms Guide

Young single mothers are just like any other teens. They eat poorly, sometimes drink, or smoke. They’re influenced by peer pressure to become sexually active and then when they become pregnant, those same influences can be damaging to her child. After the baby is born a young single mother and friends may part ways. The mother may face alienation and ridicule from the same friends that helped to influence the same behavior that got her in trouble.

Sometimes, the baby’s father is amongst the young single mother’s friends. He may even take an active interest in helping to rear the baby. If a teenage mom continues to be sexually active, her chances of having a second child increase dramatically. With 1 in 4 adolescents having a second child within 24 months of the first, a young single mother needs good information on birth control. If one of her friends is the baby’s father, she must take precautions not to get pregnant again.

On the other hand, once a teenager becomes a mother, she may want to quit school. At this point, she may have some loyal friends who can make the difference between her decision to stay and complete school or quit all together. With the support and understanding of friends in high school who are her own age, a single mother may not feel intimidated to return to school. A young single mother and friends who influence her positively has more motivation to succeed against the odds.

A young single mother and friends who care about her can be the best type of emotional support system for her. It will help her in times of stress to know that others care for her. Sometimes, the teenage mother is paired in mentoring programs with adults to help her gain valuable parenting skills and provide on-site daycare while she attends classes. In these instances, these mentors can become great friends and provide positive influences to young single mothers.

A young single mother and friends who are there for her to cheer her on, help her keep striving to finish her education, or who don’t belittle her situation, may be an incentive to keep the mother trying to improve her circumstances. A young single mother and friends who influence her negatively can cause her to shirk her responsibilities and eventually lead serious problems with drugs and alcohol. It’s important for parents or mentors supervising young single mothers to try to steer them into making good choices when it comes to their circle of friends, for the mother and the baby’s sake.

Young Single Mother And Friends Who Influence Her is a post from: Single Moms Guide

When a teenager becomes a mother, she may still be trying to mature herself and doesn’t have the knowledge or resources to successfully parent a newborn child. Parenting tips for a young single mother come from a variety of resources: her parents, grandparents, community, hospitals and clinics, schools, and private organizations. The more information a young single mother has, the better prepared she is to take care of that little one who is depending on her.

Parenting Tips For A Young Single Mother From Family Members

Family members are in the best position to offer their knowledge and advice. Focus not on trying to correct or take-over the new mother’s duties, but instead seek to motivate your daughter to not give up on herself because she is a single mother. Family members can be a resource immediate help with a child that is sick or colicky. In addition, parents of single mothers can be very influential in making sure their daughter continues her education thus setting a foundation to have good job so that her child does not live in poverty.

Single mothers typically quit school when they become pregnant and many never ever get a college degree. This reduces their chances in the labor market and relegates them to low-paying jobs. It’s important to help the new single mother understand what her responsibilities are towards helping her child grow and how she can best make a living in the future by concentrating on her education today.

Parenting Tips For A Young Single Mother From Her Community

Social programs in the community can offer parenting tips for a young single mother on nutrition, counseling, birth control, reduction of bad habits like drinking or smoking, health issues, and child abuse.

WIC offers nutritional counseling and food for children under the age of 5. To be informed on what social programs are available in the community, the single mother needs to register with the Department of Social Services in her state.

Parenting Tips For A Young Single Mother From Hospitals And Clinics

Some hospitals and clinics offer special programs for teenage mothers. They offer prenatal and postnatal care and parenting classes. This can help relieve the mother’s fear of what will happen to her during the birthing process or after she is to take the child home. In addition, it provides a bit more supervision for the teenage mother’s baby from medical professionals.

Parenting Tips For A Young Single Mother From Schools And Private Organizations

There are private organizations like the La Leche League, which offer information on breastfeeding. Other private organizations offer counseling and mentoring services. Mentors are a particular good resource for offering parenting advice from experienced people who are not directly associated with the family. Many teenagers have difficulty accepting advice for parenting from their own parents and so mentors and foster grandparents are a good option for them.

Parenting Tips For A Young Single Mother is a post from: Single Moms Guide

Each child is unique and responds in a different manner in different situations. Single parenting deeply effects their emotions, so it is the duty of all parents to act in a way, which is better for the future of our kids. The idea is to act and not to react. So lets find out how the life of our off springs is affected by our actions.

Being a parent we should be well conversant with the stress triggers of our offspring as they vary with age and personality. Every child responds to a situation in its own way. One kid may take a situation very seriously whereas the other may not react at all. Similarly toddlers, adolescents and younger kids face stress triggers differently. Single parents can only help themselves and their children if they know their way well.

Teenagers have complex requirements, which are not easy to meet as a sole parent. Being the only parent you lack the support of your partner. In absence of mothers all girls find their dads inexperienced to deal with their day-to-day problems. Single dads are often blamed for being insensitive, by teenage girls particularly on dating issues. Being a single father you have to make them understand that when you ask to invite her boyfriend home before going out together, it’s obviously not an intrusion in her life. Rather it is to know whether it is safe for her going out with that particular person or not. This happens because that dad knows about teenage boys as he was a boy himself once and all dads whether single or not must look after the safety of their daughters. Every now and then curfew becomes an issue but they are to be explained that these check and balances depend upon how dependable she is.

Similarly the relation between teenage sons and their single mums is not without problems. This relation and emotions are at full swing in this relationship. As the boys grow up they usually become taller than their mothers because of the testosterone surge at this age. At the age of 16 boys may be up to 6 ft tall whereas most moms are not. As this happens the boys try to take charge within the house defying their mothers as parent. At this point the mothers need to be determined to keep their dominant rule and exercise their authority. If you are firm you can dictate and command the boys to follow rules. They need to remain in their rooms if they cannot control themselves till the time they are normal again. Similarly it is not advisable and safe for your teenager to drive in an angry mood, this may prove harmful.

When you deal with your child’s emotions as the only parent it may be very tiring but to keep you household peaceful and smooth running you have to explain to your children that it is YOU who is in charge and emotions are part of everyday life but that they have to keep them under control.

Single Teenage Parenting: Dating Issues and Insensitive Parents is a post from: Single Moms Guide

Young single mothers face a number of obstacles to successfully parenting their child while trying to achieve their own self-sufficiency. On the one hand, a child needs a mother’s attention, but on the other a young single mother needs to be working to earn a living to support the child. This delicate balancing act can be even more precarious when the young single mother is a teenager who hasn’t even completed high school yet. With minimal education in a society that demands higher education and few job skills, a young single mother may end up caught in a poverty trap that can get tighter each year. The only way out is by having a young single mother’s right attitude. Face it, motherhood is hard and single motherhood is much harder.

Traits To Develop For A Young Single Mother’s Right Attitude

* A thick skin with an open mind
* Persistence, persistence, persistence
* Ability To establish goals and follow through
* Courage to work hard without any guarantees of success

A Thick Skin With An Open Mind

Being a young single mother is stereotyped in this society as being social burden or a personal failure. Many young single mothers end up on welfare, with estimates suggesting 75% of teenage single mothers being on welfare at least five years after the birth of their first child. Getting public assistance can be humiliating, and there is a lot of discrimination in the workplace against young single mothers. A young single mother’s right attitude in the face of these circumstances is to have faith in herself, while being willing to get help from people when she needs it. She must have a thick skin with an open mind to reach out and begin to establish support systems for herself and her child.

Persistence, Persistence, Persistence

While it may be difficult to persist in getting an education after one has their first child, it’s paramount if that mother is the sole provider for her family. A young single mother’s right attitude is a mixture of doggedness and faith. She must be persistent in finding creative ways to manage her motherly responsibilities while planning for the future of her little family.

Ability To Establish Goals And Follow Through

This ability to plan for the future takes some degree of optimism. While the incidence of depression for single mothers is 40% greater than her married counterparts, a single mother has to take responsibility for her future and set some goals for her education and job training to better her circumstances.

Courage To Work Hard Without Any Guarantees Of Success

After establishing goals and being persistent in getting her and her child’s needs met, the single mother will need to have the courage to face a life that has no guarantees. A young single mother’s right attitude must be courageous if she is to succeed at all, however. She may work hard and encounter multiple obstacles in her way. Every step forward may be fraught with perils for two steps backwards. The only way to succeed, however, is to take those steps and build her skills, confidence, and self-esteem one day at a time.

Having A Young Single Mother’s Right Attitude is a post from: Single Moms Guide

As soon as the words “I’m pregnant” come out of your teenage daughter’s mouth, a roller coaster of emotions begins for both a teenage single mother and parents. Although a teenage single mother and parents can share the same emotions, they often are coming at them from different perspectives.

Fear

The primary emotion a teenage single mother is feeling is fear. A teenage single mother and parents share in the emotion of fear, but whereas the parents may fear how the child will impact their economic and social standing, the teenage mother is more fearful of the bodily changes she is anticipating. She can also be afraid of telling her parents and how they will react. If her family’s culture is such that honor killings or forced marriages are a part of it, then the teen mother may fear for her safety and her future.

Guilt

The teenage single mother may feel guilty for being a burden on her family and causing more stress. She may feel guilty for engaging in sexual intercourse. If she comes from a restrictive culture, she may feel guilt for disgracing the family honor. She may feel guilty she can’t provide her child with the things in life that she would have liked to provide.

A teenage single mother and parents also share the emotion of guilt but the parents may feel guilty of failing their daughter or of protecting her from becoming pregnant. They may feel guilty that the daughter is struggling.

Depression

While the initial disappointment for parents of teen single mothers is abrupt, a teenage single mother may initially not show signs of depression until the stresses of day-to-day life as a single parent become clear. If the family is supportive and not antagonistic about the pregnancy, the single mother stands a better chance of avoiding a major depressive episode.

The statistics show that teenage single mothers suffer depression at higher rates than the general population, with a 40% higher rate of incidence. The stresses of being a single parent and the lack of support, whether it’s financial or emotional, build an environment that leads to depression. Teen single mothers need help in maintaining their emotional health so they can be there for their children.

Joy

Despite the risks of emotional turmoil for a teenage single mother and parents, the birth of a baby is a joyful event. It continues the lineage of a family and can bring a family closer together. It is hard work and a path fraught with emotional ups and downs, but it is doable and many single mothers look back with a sense of achievement.

A Range Of Emotions: A Teenage Single Mother And Parents is a post from: Single Moms Guide