Jodine,

Teens have been a big issue in our country, too - at least in the states I have lived!
In my experience, the Department of Education of the local district has carte blanche, with very limited directives from statewide or national Departments of Education.  

Just like the SIDS programs are often led by people with passion due to losses in their own lives, those running the Education Departments have a passion about one thing: EDUCATION.  They want the student to graduate with as little interruption as possible for their baby (in our country the schools are paid per body present per day, which gives them a great incentive to demand early return to school).  

 I know there are some wonderful, kind teachers, but the system treats students who become pregnant as a nuisance that must be dealt with - at times pretty much forcing them to a special educational program or school (so as not to "contaminate" the other students?) - one that would delay their graduation or meeting pre-college courses, if they wished to continue in their original school while pregnant.  

When babies are born, students are expected to return within a few days or weeks - and IF day care is provided it is used as a way to teach ALL students how to care for babies by scheduling a rotation to the day care - and those students that are there feed the babies - whether they are theirs or not.  What a missed opportunity!  I'd love to bring the "Secrets of Baby Behavior" into those classrooms! (www.secretsofbabybehavior.com) 

Of course there are the exceptions - I'm sure you'll hear about them - but it seems that those who are part of the "system" and want to help young parents take a break of a year to learn about their baby or want to take shorter days - even at the cost of taking a bit longer to complete their studies - have few if any options.

Our current data shows there are fewer adolescent pregnancies, but in my experience those teens have as little support to learn about parenting as any of the previous generations!  We seem to have evolved even more slowly in that front compared to hospital/childbirth.  

In my opinion, one of the big reasons to support a breastfeeding teen is that her baby learns who really is mom - even if grandma provides a lot of the care.  It seems as if "The system" would really like it if grandma would just take over (never mind the trauma of that baby being ripped from "mom" when the teen grows up and leaves home), or just make believe the baby does not exist. 

By the way the California Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Adolescents, designed to assist the Adolescent and Family Life Program (AFLP) case managers, has updated  their "Infant Feeding Guidelines." See the link from: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/healthyliving/nutrition/Pages/TeenGuidelines.aspx 

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, PHN, IBCLC
California, USA

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