Five Things You Need to Know in an Unplanned Pregnancy
Unplanned pregnancies are often called crisis pregnancies.
The word crisis comes from the Greek Krisis which means decision. The crisis pregnancy is a crossroads of change in a woman’s life which requires a decision to be made that affects her entire future.
Here are five things a woman needs to know during an unplanned pregnancy.
1. Is the pregnancy viable?
Getting a positive home pregnancy test only means that you have a hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin or hCG in your urine but it may not mean that you have a viable pregnancy. A viable pregnancy means you have a baby, in your uterus, with a heartbeat. Did you know that up to 31% of pregnancies can end in a miscarriage often before a woman even knows she is pregnant? Also sometimes the baby implants somewhere different than the uterus (ectopic pregnancy) and this can be a medical emergency. A few other very rare reasons for a positive pregnancy test are tumors or a molar pregnancy. True Care offers free pregnancy testing and ultrasound to confirm that there is a baby with a heart beat in your uterus before you make any major decisions.
2. How far along are you?
How far along you are is important information. It can help you determine who the dad is, what abortion options you have (dating determines the type of abortion needed), and when the due date will be. Early ultrasound is one of the best ways to determine how far along you are and what the due date is. True Care offers a free confirmation ultrasound for our positive pregnancy test patients.
3. What are your options?
Once you know for certain you are pregnant and how far along you are, you will need to know about all of your options so you can make an informed decision about what to do next. Your two options are either to carry the pregnancy to term (parenting or adoption) or to terminate or end the pregnancy (abortion). This can be a very scary and confusing time for you and you may be overwhelmed with opinions of friends and relatives. True Care offers an advocate to sit with you and explore all of your options in a caring, non-judgmental and confidential setting. We offer up-to-date and factual information about each option.
4. What resources are available for you?
A crisis pregnancy can lead to paralyzing fear thinking you are alone and without resources. Many of our patients at True Care don’t know they qualify for insurance, job training, and other resources. We provide information and referrals for a doctor, insurance, WIC, food stamps, online high school, food banks, parenting classes, counseling services and much more. Did you know you can still go to high school or college even while you are pregnant? Our resource coordinator can sit down with you one-on-one and help to plug you into the resources you need for parenting or for making an adoption plan. We can also provide you with information on healing and an abortion recovery program if you find yourself struggling after an abortion.
5. It’s important to slow down and take some deep breaths.
Unplanned pregnancy can be shocking and overwhelming. Our first response to a stressful life event is often to deny it and we want to just make it go away as fast as possible. Shock and denial are part of the transition crisis cycle so it is really not the best time to make a major decision. In fact, rushed decisions are often poor decisions that we later come to regret. Take some time to process how you feel about being pregnant and having a baby. Here is an article that offers some great tips on decision making.
The choice that must be made will affect your future. You are the woman who must live with the choice, the baby, the abortion, the adoption. Don’t rush to a hasty decision on such a life altering event. Take the time to explore your feelings, your hopes and dreams, your moral values, your resources and your options. Visit us at True Care for your free appointment to provide those answers you need in order to make an informed decision.