Hi refade,
It sounds like you and your family are doing a great job of trying to support your daughter and take care of yourselves as you accept this new situation. I used to work with the teen parent population and they have always held a special place in my heart. In Evanston they had many wonderful programs that supported teen parents, but I know Evanston is quite far from where you live and you need to have services that are close to you.
Having worked with this population I found that support including and beyond a caring OB/GYN was always helpful. I don't know how you, your daughter or your family would feel about receiving additional support, but if you were open to the idea I would recommend contacting an Early Head Start program that serves your area. If you don't have one in your area your daughter and the baby's father may be able to get special permission to enroll in one in a neighboring community because they are eligible for services and don't have a program in their community. Early Head Start serves
pregnant women http://www.ehsnrc.org/PDFfiles/tano3.pdf (including teens) and young children from birth to three and their families in a comprehensive, respectful way. I can't say enough about the program and the good news is that teens can be viewed as their own family, so if your daughter enrolls in an EHS program that includes childcare as part of its services, she should be able to enroll her child in full time care with a child care subsidy covering most of the costs (it used to be $1.00 a week for care for full time students). Your income would not be considered and would not have bearing on her eligibility.
Through this program they can help her find the resources she needs including a caring OB/GYN. All EHS and Head Start programs are mandated to have a Health Care Advisory which includes local healthcare professionals from their community, so EHS staff are very familiar with healthcare services and know many providers personally. EHS staff are also pretty savy about medical benefits as well as other services they may qualify for. I realize this may not be an issue for you and your family, but it's always nice to learn what is available so you can make an informed decision.
Early Head Start is an amazing program and one I recommend whole heartedly especially for pregnant and parenting teens. Many programs also have a male involvement program that encourages fathers to stay involved. You can find a program in your area by going to
Head Start Program Directory. I would do a search for both Illinois and Indiana if you are interested.
I hope this information helps, if you have more questions, please feel free to post or direct message me. Good luck!
P.S. A side note about the DCFS call by the Doctor - medical professionals are mandated reporters and are legally responsible for reporting suspected child abuse or neglect. It is their legal obligation to report it, so the doctor really had no choice once she learned of the situation (15 year old minor and 18 year old) if she thought they were still having relations. This is a huge debate among helping professionals serving pregnant and parenting teens because so many of the teen girls are involved with men 18 and up when they are minors.
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