Caitlyn Chambers says being a teenage mum doesn't make you a bad mum.
And she would know.
She was 13 when she found out she was pregnant, 14 when she gave birth, and at age 15 she is a proud mum to 6-month-old son Hunter.
Ms Chambers is one of a decreasing number of teenagers in Northland giving birth.
Figures by Statistics New Zealand for 2016 showed the number of teen births as a proportion of total births in Northland was the third highest in the country at 6.5 per cent - of the 2229 women who gave birth, 144 were women under 20.
The highest proportion was Gisborne at 10.1 per cent followed by the Hawke's Bay region on 7 per cent.
But those numbers are decreasing each year in Northland.
In 2012, 10.1 per cent of women who gave birth were under 20, it was 9.9 per cent in 2013, 8.6 per cent in 2014 and 8.5 per cent in 2015.
Whangarei's Ms Chambers was four months pregnant when she took the test and said she felt a mixture of emotions when discovering it was positive.
She was surprised, but happy, but worried about how people would react.
"No one knew about my pregnancy until there was two months left of it. One or two of my friends knew but I kept it a secret.
"I let my family know about 20 or 30 weeks. I didn't know what everyone's reaction would be - I was scared to tell people."
Ms Chambers went to a few schools while she was pregnant but ended up at Kamo High School.
She said once she told people they were all supportive.
"My mum was supportive, she gave me the option of adopting him out but I decided to keep him and I'm glad I did."
Her dad and sister were also very supportive and she said her teachers and classmates at Kamo High School supported her and allowed her to leave class to sleep if she needed to rest.
She said Hunter's dad does not want to be a father right now but his family were supportive of Ms Chambers.
Hunter was born November last year and Ms Chambers said he has helped her grow up and improved her life.
"I have a better mindset with him. I had clinical anxiety and after having Hunter it's gone away more. When I was pregnant, and before, if I was in public I'd have to be with someone or I would start freaking out."
The young mum said there wasn't one single reason contributing to the decrease in statistics.
"It's a whole bunch of things - it could depend on if they want the baby, or how they act, and how they've grown up."
Ms Chambers is now a student at Whangarei's He Mataariki Teen Parenting School where she has been achieving NCEA Level 1 and 2 credits. In the future she wants to become a tattoo artist.
She said people who have negative opinions about teen mums should keep them to themselves.
"I've been told I'm a bad mum but he's advanced for his age so how am I a bad mother? I must be doing something right."