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While for some young women having a child when young can represent a positive turning point in their lives, for many more teenagers bringing up a child is extremely difficult and often results in poor outcomes for both the teenage parent and the child, in terms of the baby’s health, the mother’s emotional health and well-being and the likelihood of both the parent and child living in longterm poverty.

Smoking in pregnancy has well known detrimental effects for the growth and development of the baby and health of the mother.

Breast milk provides the ideal nutrition for infants in the first stages of life. There is evidence that babies who are breast fed experience lower levels of gastrointestinal and respiratory infection. Observational studies have shown that breastfeeding is associated with lower levels of child obesity. Mothers who do not breastfeed have an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers and may find it more difficult to return to their pre-pregnancy weight.

Source: ONS