Being told they have ruined their lives is a stigma some young mums can suffer – on top of feelings of isolation, fear and being overwhelmed.
But there’s a program that’s switching the narrative by offering nurturing, tailored support and guidance to help young mums and mums-to-be achieve their dreams.
Successful Maroochydore business owner Tara-Anne Boysen said the “life-changing” program, available here on the Coast, helped her to conquer her challenging past to get to where she is today.
After finishing high school and applying for university, Mrs Boysen found out she was pregnant. She’d just turned 19 and recalled feeling alone, scared and overwhelmed.
“The pregnancy was not a planned pregnancy but a worst-case-scenario pregnancy,” Mrs Boysen said.
“You always think it’s not going to be me, but it ended up being me.
“I didn’t know what to do – I still wanted to go to university but I wasn’t sure how I was going to make that happen with a baby.”
Soon after, she relocated to the Sunshine Coast with her family for fresh start.
After a visit with a social worker, Mrs Boysen was given a brochure on STEMM (Supporting Teenagers with Education, Mothering and Mentoring) at Burnside State High School.
The first of its kind in Queensland, the STEMM classroom is a unique and award-winning curriculum offering pregnant teens and young mums under the age of 24 a second chance to continue their education and reach their full potential.
Offering several study pathways, including the Tertiary Preparation Pathway (TPP) program, STEMM provides onsite childcare facilities for babies and children, as well as counsellors, dietitians, midwives and lactation specialists.
While Mrs Boysen didn’t attend STEMM until her son was six months old, she said that once she arrived she knew she had made the best decision for them both.
“It was the most welcoming, warm, loving and supportive place I’ve ever been,” she said.
“It was such a relief because social isolation is real as a young parent and even as a parent.
“I sat down and spoke to the co-ordinators Janelle and Jacqui about what I wanted to do and they said ‘of course you can go to uni, we can help get you there’ – and they did.”
From there, Mrs Boysen completed a Bachelor of Social Work and after practising for a few years she met her husband, who was a business owner.
“He helped inspire me to start my own business,” she said.
“So when COVID hit I started up a cleaning business and led 35 commercial cleaners though the peak of the pandemic, which gave me enough money to buy The Float Space at Maroochydore.”
She said she couldn’t have done it without her time at STEMM.
“The staff at STEMM gave me the emotional support that I needed to process how I had become pregnant and that I was now a mother,” she said.
“They became an extension of my family and I still visit now, 13 years later. It’s like a second home for me, even now.”
She had a message to any other young mothers or mums-to-be.
“If you wish to connect with others that have similar goals, that are motived and that want to better themselves and their life, STEMM is the perfect place for that,” she said.
“The work they do there is phenomenal – it’s bigger than just going to school with a baby or kid. It’s an amazing program.
“I would love to see similar programs run nationally, because there’s so many young people who find themselves pregnant, whether it’s planned or unplanned, and having STEMM in their lives would benefit them and their whole circle.”
