ABSTRACT
Social support provided by midwives and others can be crucial in facilitating a positive start to pregnant teenagers' adult and mothering lives. Teenage birth in high-income countries such as the United Kingdom is not generally fraught with such physical and social risk. This chapter explores the social context of young motherhood in the United Kingdom through the different lenses of government policy, academic research and the accounts of young mothers themselves. Each lens presents a different view of the problems associated with young motherhood and possible ways of addressing them. The chapter discusses young mothers' experiences of maternity care and their support needs, and highlights areas where midwifery support can impact positively on teenage mothers' lives. Teenage pregnancy in the United Kingdom and other developed nations is associated with poverty. Government policy with regard to young parenthood is at one and the same time a mirror of the views of wider society and instrumental in forming and embedding those views.
