Parenthood can be daunting, especially for young people with no one to offer them support and advice.

This was the case for a young family who were referred to our family workers at West Auckland Family Services (WAFS). The couple, along with their 11 and a half month old child, had not been living together for very long and had only recently moved to the area. They also had no family or friends living locally.

With both parents in a fragile state, and the teenage mother showing signs of mental illness, WAFS workers were concerned about the care of the child.

After assessing the family, the WAFS family worker provided the mother with information about a range of local support services including post natal support groups, relationship counselling, parent-aid and contact details for young mother’s support groups.

When following up with the mother a week later to see how she was, the family worker found her bright and positive. She had already booked herself into a young mother’s support group, spoken to someone from the post-natal depression support network and said she wanted to attend the programme when it started.

She had also followed up on other advice offered by the family worker.

Thanks to a small helping hand from WAFS, this particular mother was able to realise for herself that she needed to get out of the house and become involved in some of the support networks available in the local community.

This family is just one of many helped each year by the team at Methodist Mission Northern’s West Auckland Family Services. To find out more about our work with children and families click here.