Young mothers from Carterton have spoken about their experience and the reality of becoming pregnant at an early age.

The women are members of Carterton Young Mums, a group set up to support other who find themselves in the same situation.

Single mother Jess Pattinson, of Lancaster Place, Carterton, set up the group four years ago after she gave birth to her daughter Jasmine, at the age of 18.

She said: “When I had my girl, I didn’t have any other friends who were young parents and there were no groups in Carterton specifically aimed at young parents.”

Miss Pattinson, 22, now volunteers as a youth worker at Carterton Children’s Centre and has taken part in a project to help educate pupils at Carterton Community College.

In the long term, she wants to continue to share her experiences of young motherhood as a youth and community worker.

She hopes to help young people come to an informed decision about teenage pregnancies.

Miss Pattinson said: “I think being a mum at any age is difficult.

“However, I think there are certain aspects I think younger people would have difficulties dealing with.

“You cannot focus just on yourself – you need to put your child first.

“It’s not just about having a baby, dressing it up in nice pink or blue clothes, taking your child to the park.

“There are all the nitty gritty bits like cleaning, tidying, getting the ironing done, doing the washing, dusting, hoovering, tidying the toys, re-tidying the toys when they have been dragged out again, wiping the fingerprints off the TV.”

Fellow group member Becky Wesson, 21, mother of Brandon, two, said: “I think a lot of young girls now think that because they’ve got their boyfriend and they’ve got this happy little life, having a baby is going to fit in perfectly – and that’s not always the case.

“If the young people see what we have to go through, I hope that will help them make a decision.”