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While the UK still has the highest teenage birth rate in Western Europe, teenage pregnancies in this country are currently at their lowest since records began. Despite this, early years practitioners in mainstream PVI nurseries are increasingly likely to find themselves looking after the children of teenage parents.
‘The receding tide of Children’s Centres, which often offered specialist support to young parents, is bringing early years practitioners in more traditional mainstream early years provision more closely back into those discussions about how to support teenage parents and their children,’ says Michael Freeston, director at the Early Years Alliance.
More than 500 Children’s Centres have closed since 2010, and many of those that remain are under threat of closure.
CHALLENGES
Teenage parenthood has been linked to challenges for both parents and children. A 2017 report from Action for Children found teenage mums and young dads tend to come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and young people who have been in care are more likely to become teenage parents.
Young mothers and fathers who have been in care might find it hard to bond with their babies if they experienced trauma in their own childhoods. However, research shows that many such young people express positive feelings about parenthood, with many young mothers with care backgrounds choosing to have a child to address the lack of love they received from their own parents.
Other challenges identified by Action for Children include:
- Teenage parents are more likely to have poor experiences of education.
- They may face housing difficulties.
- Teenage mothers are three times more likely to experience post-natal depression, but may hide symptoms, afraid they will be judged as unable to cope.
- Children born to teenage mums are more likely to be admitted to hospital as a result of accidents, more likely to be involved in serious case reviews and lag behind in verbal development.
It is hard to say whether becoming a young mother leads to poor outcomes or whether the poor outcomes and teenage pregnancy are both a result of disadvantage. The age of a parent does not mean they will lack the ability to parent.
BENEFITS
In fact, research suggests that becoming a mother is a positive experience for many young women, who work to develop ‘resilient mothering practices’. Research from the University of Liverpool published in 2015 found their role as mother provided young women with a sense of self-worth and resilience in the face of material hardship.
Becoming a parent can be a catalyst in a young person’s life, engaging them afresh with education and employment. ‘They have different aspirations – it is not just about themselves any more, they want to achieve more,’ says Julie Barlow, nursery manager at Moat House. Moat House is a Pupil Referral Unit for pregnant school-age girls and school-age mothers, with an on-site nursery that looks after their babies while the pupils carry on with their education.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Not every young parent will have the same background or needs: it is important for early years practitioners to treat young parents with the respect they would offer to any parent in their setting.
‘The requirement is for managers and staff to take an approach which is informed but not overly patronising or assuming any deficient approach to parenting,’ says Mr Freeston.
Some settings can be judgemental of young parents. John May, reintegration officer in Leeds’ teenage pregnancy prevention team, says, ‘Not all early years settings are as accepting of particular needs. Some settings don’t offer young parents places because they believe they may be less reliable, which with the right support is not the case.’
CHILDCARE NEEDS
Childcare is particularly important to teenage parents as they may still be under a statutory requirement to attend school or engage with other educational opportunities. Mr May says part of his team’s job is to help teenage parents find appropriate childcare.
‘They often fear leaving the little one because of their age, as they may be returning to education when the baby is quite young and can also be edgy about leaving them with people they don’t know,’ he explains. The team only considers Good or Outstanding-rated settings. ‘We believe teenage parents deserve the best possible childcare,’ he says.
Parents under the age of 19 are able to access financial help with childcare and travel costs while they study, under the Care to Learn scheme, but they are not always aware of this.
In some areas, Family Nurse Partnership training and support is also available. Nurseries should make sure they know about these schemes and any other support offered in their locality.
INDUCTION
Because very young parents may be particularly anxious about leaving their baby with strangers, a strong and welcoming settling-in process is crucial. ‘The key person will go out on a home visit, as the young people are much more relaxed in their own home – we talk about the settling-in process and our safeguarding responsibilities,’ says Ms Barlow.
‘We explain to the young person that the nursery staff are there to support them as parents and we encourage them to feel confident in communicating with us. Often, they need reassurance that their baby is making expected progress – we work closely with the health visitor who comes to our setting to talk to the mums and nursery staff.
‘We treat our young parents as adults, showing respect. We don’t talk down to them, we are open and honest. If they are worried about something, we encourage them to come and speak to us, we are always here to offer advice.’
Young parents are able to take part in a four-week programme including baby massage, yoga and sensory play in the nursery to build up trust and get to know staff; they are also able to spend time with their babies at lunch.
‘We make it clear they have parental responsibility, they are coming in and telling us what their baby’s needs are for the day,’ says Ms Barlow.
At Hawksworth Wood Children’s Centre in Leeds, the team undertakes several home visits and invites the parent and child to the nursery to build trust. Deputy manager Sarah Binns explains, ‘We make it clear that we can support them with any issues at school, any family relationship issues, and with their child’s development. We frequently meet with the school mentor, parents and extended family where necessary to resolve and help the parents with any issues they are facing.’
Many young parents are acutely aware of the negative assumptions others can make about their parenting, and describe professionals as particularly supportive when they express positive views of young parenthood. Emma Naylor, 18, has a one-year-old who went into childcare at the age of five months. ‘The nursery is lovely and doing a good job of understanding and supporting me,’ she says. ‘The key worker donated her own child’s clothes to me.’
CASE STUDY: Natasha, aged 21, mum to Jack aged 4, Leeds
My son was one when he first went into childcare. Some of the nursery workers were OK, but one of the managers was very old-school. This person was very snobbish and spoke to me like a child. The childcare workers were fantastic though, they understood more than the manager. One of the workers had been through a similar circumstance so could relate more.
I think they could have helped more with filling out the forms, the money aspect of things. When I attended university, this became worse. The nursery didn’t trust that I was really attending university; they thought I was just playing the system. I was annoyed with this. I would have said something but I don’t think it would change anything.
The nursery wasn’t good at filling in the relevant documentation: they didn’t return forms back to Uni, which meant I owed money that should have been already paid. Because I am quite a strong character, it didn’t stop me from attending Uni, but it might have for someone else. My advice to nursery workers about how to build a relationship with young parents like me is to take more time to get to know the circumstances of the individual.
Names have been changed
TEENAGE PARENTS
There were 18.5 conceptions per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17 in England between January and March 2017, a drop of 6.5 per cent from the same period the year before.
The under-18 conception rate has declined by 60 per cent since 1998.
Children born to teenage mothers experience an average delay of five months in verbal ability.
Of young parents involved in the Family Nurse Partnership programme, 46 per cent had been suspended, expelled or excluded from school, and 48 per cent were not in education, employment or training.
Almost 60 per cent of children in serious case reviews were born to mothers under 21.
Sources: Office for National Statistics; ‘Effect of teenage motherhood on cognitive outcomes in children: A population-based cohort study’, Archives of Disease in Childhood; The Next Chapter: Young People and Parenthood, IPR and University of Bath
MORE INFORMATION
Not the End of the Story – the 2010 Barnardo’s report includes how to help young parents with their education, www.barnardos.org.uk
The Next Chapter: Young People and Parenthood, www.actionforchildren.org.uk
‘It has not ruined my life; it has made my life better’ by Elspeth Anwar and Debbi Stanistreet of the University of Liverpool focuses on the positive effects of young motherhood, https://bit.ly/2HLE3mI
