Some teenagers fail to make the connection between having sex and getting pregnant, according to a survey published by the Vincentian Partnership for Justice.
The survey was conducted by Dr Valerie Richardson of the Social Science Research Centre, University College Dublin.
She recommends that the way in which sex education is provided in schools should be looked at in the light of the failure of young mothers in her study to link sex and pregnancy.
Sex education should include discussion on contraception as well as practical advice on sexually transmitted diseases.
Support should be given to fathers to keep up contact with their children, she recommends. "The development of groups for young fathers would be one way of supporting them."
She found that the majority of young women interviewed had received emotional support from the fathers of their children during pregnancy and immediately after birth. "How ever, over time this contact falls away and, at the time of the study while almost 40 per cent of the women had daily contact with the father of the child, a similar number had no contact at all."
She interviewed 31 mothers in Cork and Dublin under the age of 25 who had their first baby when unmarried and under the age of 18. She also circulated a questionnaire to 800 conferences of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
Most of the mothers had left school early and now regretted doing so, said Dr Richardson. Their ambition for their own children was that they stay in education and get good jobs.
Support should also be provided for the grandmothers who care for their grandchildren.
The report says that while many of the young women would like to go out to work they cannot do so because they cannot find suitable childcare.
The Minister for Children, Ms Mary Hanafin TD, said at the publication of the report: "Recent investment in family support, disadvantaged schools and education programmes will ensure that prospects will be better for both mother and child."