Pregnancy and parenthood at an early age present major challenges in the lives of young people, that can potentially affect their chances of achieving the best outcomes in their lives.
Currently there are a range of key schemes in Lewisham designed to support this young people in this area and depending on how comfortable an individual feels you can contact any of them for further advice.
Teenage Pregnancy, Parenthood and Sexual Health Programme
This programme is Lewisham's response to the high rates of teenage pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections across the borough.
Our aims
- reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies to young people under 18 years old
- help young people to make good choices and have better lives
- support young parents and their children to maximise and fulfil their potential.
Why do we need this programme?
- having a baby while you are young can be really difficult for the young mother, the young father and their baby
- there are high rates of unwanted or unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections among young people in Lewisham
- without support, teenage parents can experience poverty, isolation and poorer health
- young people need clear, factual, easy to understand information about sex and relationships to be able to make informed choices
- Lewisham has a strong commitment to help its young people to fulfil their maximum potential.
Who is it for?
- young people and their family - providing support and services to improve life chances and health
- professionals, e.g. teachers, social workers and youth workers - to help these workers to feel confident and able to tackle the issues with young people
- managers, politicians and policy makers - to inform them about the issues and experiences of young people in order to influence the planning and development of local services.