5 Life Roles of a Teenage Mother

Your pregnant teen daughter needs your help with the five roles she is juggling. Your local pregnancy help center may have classes that can help your daughter with the information she needs.

1) Teenager. "Teenage mothers think and act like teenagers. Just like any other teenager, they can be self-centered and may find it difficult to plan for the future. ... Boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, getting along with parents, and what to do after high school."

2) Mother. "Our society views motherhood as something special. We believe mothers should provide security and stability for their children. A mother must sacrifice many of her own wants and desires for the benefit of her child. But most teens have not reached this level of maturity. Teenage mothers may want to be good mothers but lack parenting skills (information on nutrition, child discipline, and other topics that will help teenage mothers rear and provide for their children)."

3) Student. "Finishing high school is a critical step toward independence for the teen mom."

4) Employee. "Many believe that it would be best if the mothers did not work and instead spent the majority of their time with their children. While this may be the ideal situation, the fact remains that many teenage mothers must work in order to provide for their children. In order to help those mothers who will need to work, ...cover such topics as: how to find quality childcare, how to dress for a job interview, how to interview for a job, and how to become a reliable and valued employee."

5) Seeker. "Finally, most teenage mothers are either unsaved or have wandered away from Christ. The primary problem for these teen moms is spiritual, even though they may not realize it at first. The teenage mother must be reconciled to Christ before she can experience the healing that comes from forgiveness and find the new purpose and direction she needs."

The information in this post is summarized from an article titled "The Five Life Roles of a Teenage Mother" by Christa March, in "At the Center" magazine, Winter 2004.

We discuss some of this information in our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy". You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Supporting my daughter as she makes decisions", "The pregnancy resource center", "Completing school", and "Our hope for the next five years".