Louise's story

Louise from Llanelli in south Wales is 23, and the mother of four children under five. She was a rebellious teenager but found purpose and determination to get her life on track by becoming a mum.

‘I have moved on and new people are coming in; it’s nice to chat to them about what YWCA means to me, what it has done for me and what I have done in the past.’’

Louise was expelled from school at 15. She didn’t take her GCSEs but knows she was bright. She felt school just gave up on her. ‘I was very rebellious. I was with the wrong crowd smoking and drinking at weekends and things.’

Louise admits that she put her family ‘through hell.’ She was thrown out of the family home and ended up living on her own in a bedsit.

‘I knew I had to turn my life around; I was going nowhere. I had nothing.’

She went to work in a local factory met her partner and soon became pregnant. ‘Once I was pregnant I thought: I’ve got to make this work. I decided to concentrate on my pregnancy.’

She gave up her job and quit smoking. Her relationship with her mother changed for the better. But she felt isolated and didn’t know where to go to meet other people. She saw a poster advertising an open day at YWCA and decided to go along. She hasn’t looked back.

Over the years she has taken courses at YWCA and has done volunteering training, as she wants to help other young women.

She has been involved with a breastfeeding campaign, with YWCA’s RESPECT young mums campaign and has even spoken at the Welsh assembly about what it’s like to be a young mum. She is more determined than ever to make a success of her life.

‘Before I went off the rails I wanted to be a midwife. I still want to be a midwife. When my children go to school I’ll go to university. I’m glad it happened this way. If I hadn’t become a mum I would either be working in some dingy place, or I would have gone on to drugs next.’

 Read other young women's stories.