I was on Teen Mom UK after having a baby at 16 – trolls taunted me, bus drivers tutted & even the midwives judged me
BEING a mum is hard - but for one young woman, becoming a parent at the age of just 16 was a real life change.
, 18, from Highbridge, Somerset, gave birth to her son Teddie when she was just 16-years-old, in March 2021.
Now a star of the new Teen Mom UK series, she explained that she was in school, in Year 11, when she found out she was expecting and revealed that while she loves being a young mum, it hasn’t been an easy ride.
From kids in school, teachers and even the bus driver passing judgement on her, Angel explained that being pregnant as a teen came with many challenges.
Even to the point of Teddie’s arrival - Angel claimed that midwives were quick to turn their noses up at her and assume that she had no clue what she was talking about, as a result of being a teen and pregnant.
Angel told Fabulous: “I went to school with a bump. I found out in July and had to go back to Year 11 in September.
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“I announced I was pregnant because my bump showed as soon as I got to 13 weeks.
“The school supported me through everything but I had an incident when I was 18 weeks pregnant. I was going to the toilet to be sick because of morning sickness and two boys decided to punch me in the stomach.
“Luckily because I was quite early it was fine but it was scary and horrible and put me off going to school.
“I was taken out of all lessons and put in a room where people struggle. I didn’t move from this one room.
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“It felt like I was being punished because I was pregnant. It was awful. I was crying and scared. I felt out of place.
“I did my last GCSE the day before I had my son. I did my English exam on the Monday and had him on the Tuesday.
“Everyone says ‘teen pregnancies drop out of school’, but they don’t, I passed.”
Angel explained that coming from a small town, it was a shock to everyone when she announced she was pregnant in her teens.
She added: “Where I live is quite small and there haven't been many teen pregnancies here. The news was going round and round.
“I knew that I needed to become a mum. I didn’t get pregnant on purpose, it was an accident, but it happened and I lived with it.
“People said ‘why don’t you get rid of it, you don’t need it, you’re only young, you’ve got all the time in the world to have another one’, but I think that’s wrong to say.
My mum was disappointed in me - she wanted me to live life.
“I got snarky comments but thought ‘why do I care? I know that I can do this.’
“It was my family that got to me the most - my sister loves my little boy now and she adores him, but she said ‘you’re going to have to live in a homeless shelter, you’ve got no money, no education, no nothing’ and I did think ‘woah, I am actually going to be raising a little boy’, and it was scary.
“I knew that I was going to do it no matter what the circumstances were. I knew I could step up and become a mum.
“My mum was disappointed in me - she wanted me to live life, but she supported me the whole way and was there through every scan, every appointment.
“But old-fashioned people don’t get it, people said ‘you shouldn’t have got pregnant’, but I didn’t mean to, did I? But it happened.”
Angel explained that as a pregnant teenager, she felt embarrassed about having a baby bump.
She said: “Walking around with a bump, I felt embarrassed. I would hide my bump. I wore big jumpers to try and cover it.
“I felt like every time I went out, if my bump was on show, I was going to get stares.
“Someone stopped me in the street and said ‘are you pregnant, how old are you?’ and it made me feel so s**t about myself.
“Even when I was on the bus going to school, the driver looked at me, looked at my bump and looked back at me and said ‘make sure you’re not sick on my bus.’”
Not only this, but even medical professionals were quick to judge too.
I think the worst part about teen pregnancy is how you get treated in the hospital.
Angel explained: “I found that when I went to midwife appointments, I would walk in and they would say ‘why are you here?’.
“I would carry my notes through the hospital and get [odd] looks from the midwives.
“I had reduced movement and went to hospital and they said ‘you’re 16, do you even know what you’re on about?’
“Nobody believed I was in labour. I was having contractions every two minutes. I had no pain relief. They made me walk to the labour ward.
“I think the worst part about teen pregnancy is how you get treated in the hospital.
“I was having contractions and I had to wait three hours for paracetamol.”
And even when her son Teddie arrived, the hate didn’t stop.
She claimed: “I got more hate after I had him as well. People would take the mick out of his name and his face. I was so angry.
“People that I was friends with in school turned on me and started taking the mick out of his name and how he looked and what I dressed him like. Then they’d come back round a few months later and ask how he was.”
But despite the negativity she has faced, Angel loves being a mum to her son and has bright goals for the future.
She concluded: “I didn’t need to prove to anyone else that I could do it, I knew I could do it, I just needed to prove to myself that I could do it.
“People say ‘kids having kids, it’s ridiculous’ and I was a child having a child, but I stepped up to that mum mark. I still step up every day.
“Teen mums have a reputation that they give the baby to their mum, they go out clubbing and do what they want. I have never had a night off and my baby boy is two.
“As soon as Teddie goes to school, in two years, when he’s four, I’ll be 19/20, so I’ll go back to college and university and I’ll study to become a paramedic.”
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Teen Mom: Next Generation is available to watch now on Paramount+
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