NOT FOR EVERYONE: Unwed mothers have no access to Parenthood Tax Rebates and the Baby Bonus.

Her family never knew she was pregnant - and unmarried.

They were not there when Ivana (not her real name), 36, gave birth.

She broke the news to them only last week, when her son turned three months old.

And they were not happy.

The PhD candidate says she kept her pregnancy a secret because she knew her "very traditional family" would not accept the child she had out of wedlock.

She tells The New Paper on Sunday: "It's all about face value.

"They are worried about the embarrassment it would bring the family and that's why now we're estranged."

Ivana was in a relationship with the baby's father for about two years. But the European man walked out on her and their unborn child.

She was seven months pregnant.

"I woke up one day and he was gone. He deleted me off everything - WhatsApp, Facebook," she says.

"I never thought he'd have the heart to just pack up and leave even if it was not what he had planned.

"I didn't ask for him to walk out. I didn't ask to be a single mother. How could anyone think that I don't want a traditional family unit?"

Ivana worried about how she would manage without support, especially after her eight-week maternity leave.

She says: "Why does my child get to spend only eight weeks with me? Doesn't my child count?"

The maternity leave entitlement for unwed mothers was changed on Tuesday.

Minister for Social and Family Development (MSF) Tan Chuan-Jin announced that the Government is ready to extend the full 16-week maternity leave to unwed mothers.

The change will be implemented from early next year, after legislation is amended.

"I am heartened that unwed mothers will get the same benefits as their married counterparts," says Ivana.

"All mothers are raising children, so what's the difference?

"We still have a long way to go."

NO ACCESS TO REBATES AND BONUSES

Unwed mothers also have no access to Parenthood Tax Rebates and the Baby Bonus.

Ivana, who lives alone with her baby, says she is grateful for the support of friends.

"I have to be frugal. My friends gave me hand-me-down baby clothes," she says.

"At home, I'm on my own. It feels like I'm doing laundry all the time while looking after the baby. It's just non-stop work.

"There's also no such thing as a confinement period for me. A week after giving birth, I was going out to buy food with my baby in tow.

"If I didn't, who was going to get dinner?"

Before the baby came along, Ivana led a comfortable life, earning close to $7,000 a month. She bought a condo unit and a car early last year.

It's different now though - the condo has to go.

"I cannot afford to have such high overheads because I have a child to think about now," she says.

"I'm not struggling that badly financially because I hold a good job but on the emotional front, it's tough.

"If I'm feeling that way, what about the other single mums - especially those struggling to cope financially on top of emotionally?

"Can you imagine what they are going through?"

''I didn't ask for him to walk out. I didn't ask to be a single mother. How could anyone think that I don't want a traditional family unit?''

— 'Ivana', whose European boyfriend left her when she was seven months pregnant

BY THE NUMBERS

446

Number of births for women above 19 registered without the name of the child's father.

2010: 554

2011: 519

2012: 523

2013: 488

2014: 446

Single Parent Registration Births, according to Registry of Births and Deaths by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA)