How to Mentor a Teenage Mom

Teenage mothers often face significant challenges as they strive to raise their children, complete their educations and create stable lives. Some women lose the support of their families and turn to mentors to guide them. Being a mentor to a teenage mom can be a very rewarding experience for both you and the woman you mentor.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Tenderness
• Patience

1. Listen to the young mother and provide her with a safe environment to express her emotions. She may be facing a lot of questions from other people and have little opportunity to address her own feelings. Let her talk.
2. Help her find resources. Unless she has a people helping provide for her financially, she could require assistance to take care of her baby. Connect her to organizations that help teenage mothers feed and clothe their babies. Some organizations will also help new mothers find shelter.
3. Investigate social support networks where she can connect to other people in the same situation. Expanding her network may introduce her to resources that she can access.
4. Show her how to make positive choices for herself and her child. Share your own experiences and the reasons why you made certain decisions. Be someone she can look to for an example of success.
5. Support the teenage mom's autonomy. Allow her to do things for herself and make her own decisions. The resources you help her find won't always be there, so she needs to become somewhat self-reliant. Let her learn and make mistakes while ensuring the safety of the baby.

Tips & Warnings

• Resist the urge to give her a lot of money or items for the baby. A certain amount of financial support is okay, but you need to help her find her own way to provide for herself.