The negative social and economic effect of teenage pregnancy on the community is large. In 1993, the annual cost associated with teenage pregnancy in the USA was estimated at US$21 billion.1 Psychiatric pathology, family violence, poor levels of education, social isolation, adverse obstetric outcome, and illicit drug use compound mothercrafting difficulties in the setting of teenage pregnancy.2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 Social disadvantage and dependence on government benefits mean that teenage parents have to survive on or below the poverty line.7 Furthermore, the cycle of disadvantage continues, with children born to teenage mothers often remaining worse off throughout childhood than offspring born to older women of similar socioeconomic status.3 and 8