Sakisha Webb and “Ms A” became mothers when they were children themselves.

But the two said the experience of having a child made them grow up faster. The women — both now in their thirties — became pregnant aged just 14.

Now they have decided to talk about their lives as the island marked Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month.

Ms Webb said: “It’s very challenging to balance life — it’s not like you could be employed. Going to school, having a very serious responsibility and then also being a child yourself, that was very challenging for me. I had to learn the hard knocks of life very quickly.”

Ms A, who asked to remain anonymous, was the same age when she found out she was pregnant. She said: “Challenge is probably an understatement. It’s a complete turn on life, and it definitely makes you grow up very quickly.”

Ms Webb said she decided to speak out about teen pregnancy because a lot of young girls were looking either for a father figure or were lost in “the development of becoming a woman”.

The 36-year-old added: “You sometimes just want to be with somebody and you end up making wrong decisions and things end up happening.”

Ms Webb said teen pregnancy was a serious problem and warned that some may not realise the impact of having a child at such a young age. She added: “Not everybody’s family is strong to deal with another child — there are so many factors the public should be aware of and that make it a very serious issue.”

Ms Webb explained that she grew up without a father and felt subject to peer pressure when she met her son’s father at a neighbourhood hangout.

She said: “I just got caught up in the wrong crowd, got involved with the wrong guy.”

Ms Webb said, by the time she was sure she was pregnant, it was too late for an abortion. She added: “I had to just go with it. I had to leave school at that point. That’s when I went to Teen Services. I had to further my education, as per my mother, and that was the only avenue at that time.”

Ms A also said she continued her schooling at Teen Services when she found out she was pregnant. She explained that she met her son’s father, who was three years older, when her parents were going through a divorce and she was looking for “the comfort of a friend”.

Ms A, 30, added: “It started as a friendship. Just being in that space of dealing with the divorce had me in a vulnerable state.”

The IT project manager said her son’s father was involved with their child at first but this stopped after two years.

Ms Webb, who works in insurance, said her son started to build a relationship with his father, who later died.

Both women added they had found support in their family and faith.

Ms A said she had to deal with criticism from strangers as well as adults close to her.

But she added that also gave her the drive to succeed and she had no regrets.

Ms A said: “I am a pretty determined person so I knew right away that even though I was in a situation that some people might think was unfavourable, I knew that I would progress through that and make something of it.”

Ms Webb said she was stunned at becoming a mother.

But she added: “Now that I see how he has developed, I wouldn’t change the hands of time.”

Ms Webb said she had became a survivor as the result of her pregnancy — and it had given her the resolve to make sure her own son did not become a teenage dad. She added: “You want your child to learn from you so that they don’t make the same mistakes.”

‘I was looking for love in the wrong places’

Sex education and support are vital for vulnerable girls struggling with emotional problems, two teen moms said yesterday.

Sakisha Webb, who became pregnant at 14, warned that young girls could be taken advantage of if they looked for affection “in the wrong places”.

The 36-year-old said: “Reach out to a family member who is more of sound mind as opposed to reaching out to somebody who may act like they love you or give you the attention and affection.

“I was looking for love in the wrong places. If you go down that avenue, men can sometimes take advantage of young girls, tell them what they want to hear and one thing leads to the next.”

Ms A added: “The key is to find someone that you can communicate with and that can help to guide you in a better direction.”

The 30-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous, became pregnant at 14 because her parents were getting divorced and she was looking for an escape.

She said: “My parents didn’t have enough time for me in that emotional space because they were going through those emotions.

“They were trying to be there for me, of course, but it was just in a different way. When I met my son’s father, it was a getaway from all of the emotions.

“I was trying to get away from that and get a clearer mind.”

Ms A also highlighted the importance of education on sexual health and “the other aspects of decision making in difficult times”.

She said: “Around the time I was at Teen Services, I almost felt as if pregnancy was a fashion.”

Michelle Wade, director of Teen Services, said both women were “success stories” but warned that there are others who struggled to “break the cycle”.

She added: “We can meet you half way but we can’t force you.

“We can have all of these resources in place, but if you don’t want it and don’t want to comply to some of the things that you are not used to doing, then it becomes more difficult.”