Girls to mothers
In ‘Girls to Mothers’ Florence Jaugey provides the audience with a glimpse into the lives of Kenia, Blanca and Viviana, three teenage mothers from Nicaragua. They are all between the ages of fourteen to sixteen and are in the third trimester. Jaugey followes the three girls before, during and after the birth of their children. She shows the influence of the pregnancies on their mothers, their boyfriends and on the girls themselves. Kenia, Blanca and Viviana seem stoic in the beginning, but the filmmaker succeeds in showing their insecurities and grief as well.Social Relevance
Four hundred children are born to teenage mothers in Nicaragua every day. The film clearly shows that the pregnancies are difficult for the girls and provide them with a constant struggle. Kenia’s boyfriend wants support her and their child, but is unemployed. Ironically, the father of Blanca’s child disapproves of premarital sex and is in denial of his role in the situation. Viviana’s boyfriend puts pressure on her to have five children, but is nowhere to be found when she returned home from the hospital after the birth of their second child.
Four hundred children are born to teenage mothers in Nicaragua every day. The film clearly shows that the pregnancies are difficult for the girls and provide them with a constant struggle. Kenia’s boyfriend wants support her and their child, but is unemployed. Ironically, the father of Blanca’s child disapproves of premarital sex and is in denial of his role in the situation. Viviana’s boyfriend puts pressure on her to have five children, but is nowhere to be found when she returned home from the hospital after the birth of their second child.
Additional social background
In 1998, Roberto Fonseca wrote an article on teen mothers in Nicaragua. The statistics he quotes cite Nicaragua as the country with the most teenage pregnancies in the world. Thousands of girls are pressured into getting pregnant by their boyfriends, who view pregnancy as proof of their love. Financial and emotional support is often lacking after the babies are born, and roughly ninety percent of the young mothers, most of whom have no education, are dependent on their parents and friends for their livelihoods.
About the filmmaker
French filmmaker Florence Jaugey studied drama and theater and began her career as a film and theater actrice. In 1990, she founded a production studio together with Frank Pineda, a Nicaraguan filmmaker, and they produced various short films and documentaries, including Girls to Mothers. Jaugey won several prizes for Girls to Mothers, including a Unicef UK Award. She also won a Silver Bear in Berlin for her short film ‘Cinema Alcazar’.
Scenes
- Kenia Quiroz. sixteen years old and pregnant
- We meet the 16 year old pregnant Kenia Quiroz. Her pregnancy came as a surprise. “What happened, happened and I don’t even know how. It was so sudden.” Her boyfriend is just fifteen years old, but he is determined to support his girlfriend with the expected baby. His father is merely filled with pride. Kenia’s mother however, points out the responsibilities that come with a child.
- Blanca, fourteen years old and pregnant
- When the fourteen year old Blanca discovered she was pregnant, she was already carrying the baby for three months. She feels sad and is upset about her pregnancy because she doesn’t know ‘what tomorrow will bring’. Moreover, the father of the child doesn’t want to help Blanca since he is convinced the child is not his. When the director asks Blanca if she’s prepared to raise the child, she answers: “ I have to raise it, because what’s done can’t be undone.”
- A ‘father’s’ perspective
- The ‘father’ of Blanca’s child talks about the pregnancy. He is not sure if the kid is his or not, because when he met Blanca, she was ‘no longer innocent’. She had already had a man. He argues that it is wrong for women to have sex before they get married, but for men it’s normal since men remain the same. “It’s that the man always has more worth than the woman.”
- Viviana, fifteen years old and mother
- The fifteen year old Viviana already has a daughter. She talks about the exhausting and difficult delivery of her first baby. She tells the director that she didn’t want to have a baby, but she was given a remedy for a cold in her uterus by her mother and then became pregnant. She doesn’t know what the remedy is called.
- Obeying the father’s wishes
- Viviana’s boyfriend (23) was set on having children quickly because seventeen- and eighteen year old boys in his neighborhood already had one or two. He pressured his mother-in-law to find a way for Viviana to have a baby. Although Viviana’s mother didn’t like her daughter to have children at the age of fourteen, she decided to help her son-in-law and gave Viviana a potion to get pregnant.
- A child giving birth to a child
- Fourteen year old Blanca gives birth to a daughter. This scene illustrates the difficulties and consequences of giving birth to a child at an early and adolescent age. When the interviewer asks her if she is pleased, Blanca answers: “Do I have a choice?”
- Recognizing your daughter
- The father of Blanca’s child wants to see the newborn. He is thinking of recognizing her as his daughter.
- The death of Kenia’s boyfriend
- Kenia’s boyfriend was shot by a youth gang. She will now have to raise their child by herself and therefore faces many struggles.
- ‘Taking care of a kid is easy’
- Blanca elaborates on her future as an adolescent mother. She will have to work to support her child since her daughter isn’t recognized by the father. “Taking care of a kid is easy”, she says. Blanca also talks about men and birth control.
- Viviana’s second delivery
- Viviana returns to her village after giving birth to her second child in the hospital. There is nobody home, nobody wating for her. For the first time in the series of interviews, Viviana starts to cry and shows her vulnerability. Her boyfriend is questioned on this matter and also talks about his wish to have more children.
- The importance of being careful
- Blanca has a second child. Her mother was pregnant too, but lost the child after carrying it for eight months. Blanca now understands the importance of being careful. The end of this scene contains just a little information about adolescent pregnancies in Nicaragua.