Who we are
Young Mom Support is a social group of young mothers who meet monthly at The Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation Youth Centre in Masiphumelele, Cape Town, South Africa.
We are also often joined by volunteers and interested community members who may provide demonstrations or interesting and relevant talks to the group.
Young Mom Support was started in 2010 by Tracy Engelbrecht, a former teenage mom and author, now all grown up and itching to change the world. She is assisted by her mom Linda who provides admin support and sister Megan who manages our fundraising efforts.
Tracy is the author of The Girl Who Couldn’t Say No: Memoir of a teenage mom, which tells the story of her teenage pregnancy at 15 and life since then as a single mom of 2. See Tracy’s website here and buy her book online.
What we do
Young Moms Support aims to provide a safe, healthy and non-judgmental environment for young mothers of all races, cultures, religions and family situations to socialize with their children.
We hope that having a stable group of friends with the same priorities and interests will help to beat the loneliness and isolation that sometimes comes along with being a young or teenage mom, no matter how good (or not) your family support structure might be.
Every mom is different
I’ve learnt that it’s very important to realise that each mom is different and not to assume that they come to us because they are struggling or not coping.
Instead, we provide a stable and non-judgmental environment in which they can be themselves, grow as parents and speak of their frustrations and fears, long BEFORE they get to a point where they feel like they’re not managing. It’s an informal, friendly, non-intimidating setting where the moms and group leaders get to know each other as friends, equals – mother to mother.
Established, “older” mothers are always advised to look for support in their communities and family structures, to take time for themselves and to be realistic in their idea of what being a “good mother” means – and urged not to feel guilty about it.
Younger mothers have many of the same stresses and fears (and possibly more) than other mothers – they need the same support, the same amount of rest and “me-time”, the same opportunity to be heard and respected for the work they’re doing.
Isolation, judgment, loneliness, lack of material, physical and emotional support damages a mother’s ability to parent correctly – not healthy for mom, not healthy for baby and not healthy for society which has to live with the consequences of poorly-parented children.
Help the mothers before it gets to that point. Acknowledge and respect those young moms who are doing it right.
We are out there, and we deserve recognition.
I’ve been fortunate enough to share my experiences with young people at various schools. Teachers and parents are often worried about what I’ll be saying: as I am obviously happy with my life and choices, they’re concerned that I’ll be glamorising teen pregnancy and inspiring the adolescent hordes to knocked-upness. Not so.
Click on the links below to read my Parent24.com columns on the subject.
