hi I'm Anna hi I'm Olga hi I'm a Atiyah and I'm a childline counselor
and today we're going to be talking about pregnancy.
so how did you find out you're pregnant?
I kind of had a feeling that I was pregnant, like things happening with my
body that were just not normal so I decided to take a pregnancy test and
that's how I found out
it's important to know that you can get a pregnancy test
from different places so you could get them free from sexual health clinics
like Brooke or from pharmacies or supermarket
And are they quite easy to use
I think there was only three steps to take so it wasn't confusing at all
straight after we found out I was pregnant from the pregnancy test we went
straight to the doctors there was basically lots of things you can do once
you've found out you're pregnant; abortion adoption or keep the baby.
she wasn't biased so she wasn't talking about one in favor of the other she was
just very honest and open
and then you had to go away and think about it?
going there just kind of reenforced
It made you certain
certain of what I actually really wanted
to do
also doctors should be there confidentially and you don't have to go with the parent if you're not sure
any young person has the right to go and see a doctor
exactly
think just realizing that whatever you're going through it's not something
that you have to deal with by yourself and to give yourself that time to think
about what your options are what feels right for you and if you're having a
difficult time Childlines always there and childline's confidential
so it can be quite difficult for you obviously but also the
father and maybe it's an awkward conversation to have with the father.
how did you go about yours and do you have any tips?
yes obviously being so young it
can be very daunting and I decided to go about it by texting him first which I
probably wouldn't advise but it got it out there it started the conversation up
so when we did meet he had already had his first emotions out of the way so we
could just talk about the whole situation. I would basically just say to
not be pressured into doing anything you do not want to do it's your body it's
your choice, and although the father is a big part of this situation
at the end of the day it's what you have to live with.
just saying you're pregnant
for the first time and thinking about all the different things that it means
for you your education your financial situation it's very overwhelming and
it's important that you have that support. one of the things I would say is
think about someone you trust and think of how you're going to start that
conversation it could be that maybe you just want that little bit of
encouragement of how to do it you could contact Childline and practice you could
maybe write things down just to make sense of what you're going to say but
where there particular bits of your pregnancy that you found difficult or that you were
worried about?
I think the the first trimester I was probably the hardest, you're
transitioning into something that's new you're still going through the process
of I'm pregnant I'm a young parent that's gonna have a
baby soon and it's it's daunting and then obviously the morning sickness
kicks in and everything goes a bit bit weird really and it's hard because I was
tired all the time and craving foods that I shouldn't have been craving I
mean every step of the pregnancy is difficult because you experience
something new the first kick the first scan everything is just so special and I
think getting through it is probably one of the best experiences I've ever been
through anyway.
what we are weird food cravings?
Salt. I was obsessed with salt.
honestly I got to the point where I wanted to pour like sea salt on a spoon
and just eat it it was horrible and so once you a little bit further on
in the pregnancy I guess you start to realize though it starts to get a bit
closer that you're actually going to be a parent so how did you feel when you
were getting towards the end of your pregnancy and thinking about that by the
end I started getting extremely scared even when I gave birth I was coming out
of the hospital I was still like I'm a mom I'm a parent and I don't think
anything prepares you for that at all if you are pregnant or you a young parent
it can feel isolating how did you cope with finding other people in similar
situations?
I went on a lot of Facebook groups because there's so much out there
online that you can meet up with people it's just lovely having the people
around you that go through things because my friends at school you
know they don't they don't know about babies they don't want to know about
babies so me talking about Edward drooling all the time gets a bit of a
bit boring for them so it's nice connecting with people in the same
situation and having that reassurance of the things that you're feeling and those
experiences you're not alone
exactly yeah
if you want help finding out what options are available to you or help
with how to start those awkward conversations remember that childline
it's always there for you thanks so much Olga and Atiyah for joining us today
thank you see you next time