Once upon a time, the society frown on seeing a pregnant, unmarried woman or child born out of wedlock. But in this present-day, what was once seen as shame is now pathway fame. The reason for this is not something hidden.
The baby-mama trend has now become an acceptable norm among Nigerians because it assures many the opportunity of escaping marital commitments while giving them a chance to parenthood. Also, in a situation where the babby-daddy is living in the easy street, it is more comfortable and fast means that ladies use in getting rich by payment of child support. In order words, becoming a baby-mama is a way of escaping poverty from many single women involved in the trend.
While some baby-mama’s are lucky to get pregnant for men that are financially buoyant to carter for them and the child, some have little luck to have a man that cares only for the child while some of them are unlucky as they end up with broke babby-daddies.
Change they say it is constant, and honestly the way people view things are changing. Until now, a baby-mama was not a thing to boast about to parents or family members. Reason being that, society believed that people who bear a child out of wedlock are irresponsible and immature. A child produced from such romance is a bastard because he/she is not taken into a matrimonial home. The then society cringes at this idea, and when a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, she becomes a laughingstock.
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It is important to note that, divorcees. Widows or women that get pregnant through rape are exempted from this trend. Many Nigerians firmly believe that this trend was copied from the western world and its decays the moral of our society. The high rate of this syndrome can be traced to the increase in unprotected sex among unmarried youths, which ultimately leads to pregnancy.
As I earlier stated, being a baby-mama permits the man and woman a chance to parenthood. However, good parenting, which is also known as co-parenting, is done by both a mother and father. But in the case of a baby-mama and baby-daddy, the popular parenting style is single parenting. And it has been proven that single-parenting has some adverse effect on the child. Parenting is not just sending money weekly or monthly for upkeep. Although the child needs are met, he/she suffers a lack of emotional, psychological, and moral support. The baby-mama, on the other hand, gets her aim by financially gaining from the situation
A different side of the story is a delay. Delay in getting married, just like every other delay in life can be a very depressing and heart-ripping phase of life, especially here in Nigeria. In our present society, a single girl who lives with her parents and still unmarried at the age of 25 faces pressure from every angle to get married. The girls who are so desperate to erase the shame do all sort of thing just to get married, some in the hope of “trapping” their boyfriend to quickly propose to them get pregnant. In a situation, the man is not financially and mentally ready to tie the knot, he abandons the woman and the unborn child, thus making her a baby-mama.
As I rest my fingers, it is crucial for our society to start encouraging the present youth to accept marital commitments rather than running away from it. It is also necessary for our community to begin to frown at the rate of unprotected sex and the idea of bearing children out of wedlock.
Entertainers and Celebrities have a vital role to play because they influence the youths that see them as role models. Our governmental bodies, parents, and religious houses need to hold firmly to the upcoming generation and enlighten them on the right path to take. Also, the praising of adult that is irresponsible to the extent of having unprotected sex that will lead to pregnancy or pressuring unmarried women to “hook” a man with pregnancy need to stop!
