Reflection of a journey
Eraina Yaw advised young women that they need to be fully prepared for motherhood
Eraina Yaw advised young women that they need to be fully prepared for motherhood

One woman’s story of teenage motherhood

TODAY, Guyana joins with the rest of the world in celebrating Mother’s Day. But for many, motherhood can come at a high price. Many teenage mothers are faced with great challenges by getting pregnant at a young age. Eraina Yaw, though now an adult, was one such mother who gave birth at the tender age of 14. Looking back on her journey, she bravely shared her story with the Pepperpot Magazine.

“At 14, you yourself would like to be parented, but now you are forced to be a parent for a child, and all I knew about at that age was breastfeeding and making sure the child has clean clothes and feeding the child,” Yaw said. “I was not even at the age of understanding the child receiving the kind of emotional stability that needed to help the child in adulthood. I think at that time I was looking for anybody who could chip in and help, and it took me a while to really hug and taking [sic] care of my child.”

She stated further that she didn’t know the importance of passing on the values that she learnt to the child. Yaw is of the view that the situation can get even more complicated in the nurturing of the child when the child becomes ill.

“I remember my son got sick, and I went to see him, my mother was sick and I had no support. I was like a helpless person, I didn’t know what to do practically when he went into the hospital, they said that he had a 50/50 chance of living,” she said.

Yaw is of the view that at 14, one does not understand the importance of raising a child. According to her, however, these days at that age, youth are a little more informed with the advent of technology and the use of the internet, so that they can be advised of the risks of teenage pregnancy.

While teenage pregnancy is not ideal, the reality is that it still occurs, and for young mothers who may end up in that situation, Yaw gave some sage advice on how they could cope.
“You have to allow your child to grow up in a society feeling as a well-rounded child. So because you are 15 or 16 , it means that you will shortchange your child in preparing him or her for this world. You have to prepare them for this world,”she said. “So though we are young, they are still some basic things that we need to understand: that child needs love, care, and attention. To get all of that, you as a parent will need finances, so that you will able to give the children what they need. ”

She made mention of the fact that people have to learn all that is needed to be a good parent. A child, according to her, needs to grow up in a home where he or she is properly taken care of; thus, though acknowledging that teenage pregnancy is not always something that can be controlled, she said that the best advice to teenagers is to understand the risks about early sexual activity and as best as possible, to wait until they have all that is vitally important in being a good parent.

“They do not mature the way they should mature, because there is something that is lacking and then we push them into society with this deficit, the lack of love and we put them out there and they are looking for love in all the wrong places,” Yaw told Pepperpot Magazine.

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