Brook advisory service

The Brook advisory organisation, commonly known as ‘Brook’, provides a confidential service for young people under the age of 25. Brook services include:

• pregnancy testing
• contraception
• advice on missed periods
• information and advice on terminations
• information and advice on sexually transmitted infections.

The Brook website www.brook.org.uk contains information and advice, useful web links and lists its many booklets aimed at young people (including 14 to 16 year olds) that cover, among other things, teenage pregnancy issues and abortion.

Related websites

The Teenage Pregnancy Unit is a cross-government unit located within the Department for Education and Skills. It was set up to implement the Social Exclusion Unit's report on teenage pregnancy. The website contains information about the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, including guidance issued by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit. It also contains relevant publications from other government departments.
www.dfes.gov.uk

The DirectGov website contains a whole section on teenage pregnancy.
www.direct.gov.uk

The BBC website has lots of information on teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, aimed at teenagers.
www.bbc.co.uk

'RU thinking about it' is a website specifically aimed at teenagers and has a section for those who think they may be pregnant.
www.ruthinking.co.uk

Likeitis.org is another website aimed at teenagers, and contains a section on pregnancy.
www.likeitis.org.uk

Young mothers and education

Recent investigations into teenage motherhood found that teenage mothers, compared with other mothers:

• had become sexually active at younger ages with a low rate of contraceptive use
• were more likely to smoke post-natally
• had a higher rate of becoming pregnant again
• had a higher rate of depression and anxiety, with more negative feelings about parenting
• were less child-centred in their parenting practices. This means that they:
• were less likely to breast feed or persist in breast feeding
• were less likely to establish routines of feeding and sleeping
• had less developmentally-appropriate equipment for the children
• tended to engage the child in less developmentally-positive activities (for example reading, singing and conversation)
• were more likely to leave the child to watch television unsupervised.

Education and support of young mothers is therefore important for both the well-being and development of the child, and in the prevention of further unplanned pregnancies. This is being addressed through the Government initiative pilot scheme Sure Start Plus.

Academic education for young mothers is also important. Research has shown that teenage mothers are less likely to have been high achievers, are more likely to have had poor attendance at school and find it difficult to complete or return into the education system after having their baby. The Department for Education and Skills (DFES) has produced a detailed report on education of young mothers and people with special needs. It investigates the backgrounds, aspirations and outcomes of young mothers from an education perspective. Young mothers were also more likely to go on to have further children in their teenage years.

Related websites

The Government Social Exclusion website has a section called Health and teenage pregnancy. It also has a number of links to related sections.

Information on teenage pregnancy in Scotland is available from the One Parent Families Scotland website.
www.opfs.org.uk/factfile/factfile.html

Click here for further information on the Sure Start Plus programme.

Click here or further information on Sure Start.

Support for parents of teenagers

Research shows that teenage girls are less likely to become pregnant if they are able to talk about sex openly with their parents.

Ways in which parents can help their children not become pregnant at too young an age are listed in the teenage pregnancy section of the DirectGov website

Parents should:

• talk generally to their child about sex and relationships from an early age, for example naming body parts
• find out what sex and relationships education their child is getting in school
• give their child information and advice on the subjects that are not covered at school
• offer to go with their teenager to the doctor or sexual health clinic to discuss any issues about contraception
• make sure their teenager knows about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and knows how to stay safe
• support their teenager as he or she deals with the emotions of a first intimate relationship
• try to accept that their teenager will probably not have the same values as them when it comes to sex, but that such differences are an inevitable part of them growing up into a healthy adult.

Websites supporting parents of teenagers

Parentline Plus is a national charity that works for, and with, parents of children of all ages. It offers help and support through a range of free, flexible and responsive services, including a number of workshops. It has a section aimed at parents of teenagers.
www.parentlineplus.org.uk

DirectGov contains a section on teenage pregnancy that is aimed at the parents of teenagers.
www.direct.gov.uk

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) is a charity set up in 1968 to provide safe and legal abortion services. It is the leading provider of abortion services in the UK, with a national network of consultation centres and clinics. It also provides emergency contraception. The charity has a section of its site aimed at young people.
www.bpas.org

Sure Start is a government programme that aims to achieve better outcomes for children, parents and communities through:

• increasing the availability of childcare for all children
• improving health and emotional development for young children
• providing support to parents, both as parents and in their career aspirations.

The Government aims to achieve this by helping the development of services in disadvantaged areas, along with financial help so that parents can afford childcare.

Sure Start Plus is a teenage pregnancy pilot programme, initially for England, that supports pregnant teenagers and teenage parents under 18. It was launched in April 2001 for a five-year period, with 20 Sure Start Plus pilot sites covering 35 local authority areas. Its aim is to improve health, education, and social outcomes for pregnant teenagers, teenage parents and their children. The locations of the pilot sites were decided following the 1999 Social Exclusion Unit report. This indicated that Sure Start Plus pilot programmes should be located in areas with:

• high rates of teenage pregnancy
• an existing Sure Start local programme
• a health action zone (HAZ).

As a result, Sure Start Plus programmes are based within former HAZ boundaries and have built on HAZ activity through strategic networks and partnerships in the most deprived areas of England. As a pilot, the successes and failures of Sure Start Plus are being evaluated. Their performance will determine how Sure Start Plus will be implemented throughout the country.

Click here for further information on the Sure Start Plus programme.

Click here for further information on Sure Start.