A few weeks ago, I shared about an organisation called Babes whose aim is to help pregnant teens. Because I know that many teenage girls who have been in similar situations as I have, turn to my blog for hope and advice, I'll be sharing more in-depth details about the organisation and what they do, in hopes that it may somehow benefit some of you. Or if you know someone who needs help, maybe you could share this information with them as well.

I'd like to disclaim that I do not stand to gain anything by helping to raise awareness about this organisation and that this is completely voluntary. When I first found out about Babes a couple of years back, I knew that I would want to give back someday in some little way and well, now's the time.

Babes is a teenage Pregnancy Crisis Support Centre which offers programmes that supports teenagers who experience an unplanned pregnancy crisis by proactively providing information and community resources that facilitates responsible decision-making. Babes was launched on 22 February 2005 under the umbrella of Beyond Social Services, a voluntary welfare organisation that works with the community to support children and youths from low-income families. In 2013, Babes established itself as a separate organisation to focus more on the issue of teenage pregnancy. On top of case management, Babes provide additional support for our service-users by organising pre/post-natal workshops, skills upgrading workshops, referrals to partnering agencies for employment, accommodation, training and financial assistance.

I met up with Christina, the Executive Director of Babes sometime last month to find out more about what they really do at Babes and found out that apart from counselling these pregnant teens, the organisation also helps these teen girls by:

- Helping them to make the right decision 

- Provide emotional support by going with them to break the news to their parents

- Accompany the girls to medical appointments if need be

- Seek for financial aid and assistance

- Following the girls' journey through their pregnancy and the child's first year

- Provide skills workshop and help them find a proper job or continue their studies

I know how being a young mom can be quite a struggle and it doesn't help when there's a social stigma around teenage pregnancy - although I understand why. Being through the struggles myself and seeing how some young girls are not as fortunate as I have been, I do not encourage or advocate teen pregnancy and I believe that no teenage girl would intentionally want to get pregnant and put herself through the emotional trauma. It is not something we encourage. BUT, there is help if you're in that situation.