How to Support the Needs of Your Pregnant Teenage Daughter

By Giovanna Veiga & Tamya Tolbert (Marriage and Family Master’s Students at Auburn University)

In 2020, 158,043 females aged 15–19 years-old gave birth in the United
States alone. Although this number is declining year by year, teen
pregnancies are still quite common, and not much is talked about how to
help these girls not only survive but also thrive.

If you are a mom or a dad of a teen mom, you have certainly been through
a lot. During the initial shock, it is not uncommon for families to
explore a variety of emotions, such as denial, anger, guilt, and fear.
Nonetheless, it is not a surprise that these girls need all of the
support that they can get during their pregnancies. Specifically,
support for emotional, instrumental, and economic needs of the teen
mother are linked to positive maternal well-being (Henly, 1997). Below
are some tips on how to meet the needs of your pregnant teenage
daughter.

What to do

Doctor Appointments
Offer your daughter to take her to doctor appointments. Those can
sometimes seem very daunting to them, and chances are, you will now more
about what to ask and look for during such consults. Helping your
daughter bring the baby to pediatric appointments after birth can also
be of great help.

Birth Plan

Discuss a birth plan that would make your daughter the most comfortable.
But also write up a plan for resuming life after the baby’s birth. When
should them plan to go back to school or seek employment? And what are
some of the support systems that they are gonna need when that time
comes? Are them available?

Encourage Focus on Health of Pregnant Teen
Regular medical exams, diet, and exercise are necessary considerations.
Improving the teen mother’s health can have positive results. Be sure
to educate your daughter on such matters and suggest reading materials
or other ways she can utilized to stay informed.

What to avoid
Cutting off communication
One of the most important things when going through a complicate thing
such as a teen pregnancy is to communicate, communicate, and
communicate! Do not cut off a relationship just because you might feel
disappointed or ashamed of your daughter. She is still the same person
that you raised and loved, and she needs your support now more than
ever. Be sure to create space to express your feelings but also to hear
out how your daughter feels.

Dictating Decisions
Depending on your faith and values, you might want to encourage your
teenage daughter to have an abortion or give the baby up for adoption.
This is a decision that can only be made by your daughter, and your
daughter alone. Preparing the adolescent to coping with her own
decision can go a long way, but the last thing they need is pressure
from their parents to go a certain way with it.