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I'm pro-choice, but I would NEVER promote abortion as an option as lightly as you are doing. I don't believe abortion should be used as birth control.
Lightly? I see no other reasonable option for this young woman. I personally would not have wanted to adopt a kid after going through the whole pregnancy, having all my friends know that I got knocked up, of missing out on 9-10 months of activities.
I see it as a completely reasonable option for her. It is legal, it solves her problem, and you can only say she is using it for birth control if she gets pregnant again and her parents don't get her on some pill.
Lightly? I see no other reasonable option for this young woman. I personally would not have wanted to adopt a kid after going through the whole pregnancy, having all my friends know that I got knocked up, of missing out on 9-10 months of activities.
I see it as a completely reasonable option for her. It is legal, it solves her problem, and you can only say she is using it for birth control if she gets pregnant again and her parents don't get her on some pill.
Sorry Taboo, but the OP stated the teen is keeping her baby. So its not an option.
I too agree with Mattie. The father of this baby should get his butt down to the nearest place that is hiring and start saving for the expense of this baby and hopefully have his parents help out. It is not fair that this has been put on the OP's family shoulder. If this was my son, I sure as heck would get him to start putting money away for his child (then again, if he even has an inkingly of getting in the sack without a condom I know where the nearest Home Depot is with a chainsaw and he will know that I don't condone teen sex or unprotected sex for that matter) Like the old cliche it takes two to tango...
Also for others believe that teen pregnancy is the be all and end all of someone's life. That is not the case at all. I am not advocating teen pregnancy or any pregnancy whether young or old that has been created so carelessly without thought of repercussion but my sister was 16 when she got pregnant. She was living at home, she got medicaid and help from a few charities. She gave birth. She graduated high school and went to work immediately with two children by the age of 20. She is now 31 and is in a senior management position in the same company she has been working for since 16. She attended college on and off over the years. This is five kids later and she has a home, car and husband...life wasn't rosy but she busted her butt to make sure that she can and will do what she must in order to provide for her family. I am very proud of my sister because the only hand out she received was when she got pregnant at sixteen. Since then it has been her taking care of her own. Occasionally I help out when I can.
I can only hope for the OP's sake that this will only be one child for now and that this teen will continue her education and work hard to get ahead in life. A baby doesn't mean you can't do all the things you desired, it only means its going to get hard to climb that hill to get the things you desired. And if you want it, you can acheive it.
I just wish people in general would gain common sense when it comes to having children so non-chalant including my sister because there where times when I wondered WTF!
This wasn't directed at me, but I think one of the fundamental issues in this issue, generally speaking, is the lack of insurance options for a girl in this situation; I hadn't realized that SO many states don't cover a minor's pregnancy. There seems to be something horribly wrong with that. If a girl is covered by insurance then her pregnancy and birth should be covered by that policy. And, if not, then there should be some sort of state program to fill in the void. I think FIRST, though, insurance companies should be forced to cover prenatal care and birth for their existing customers, minors or not.
Truer words never spoken. I really don't understand it myself why maternity coverage isn't covered and any one who says it isn't a health issue, to me it is. But that is another topic.
Also how come this thread isn't posted in the pregnancy forum?
We have a teen pregnancy situation in my family now. The teen wants to keep the baby. The parents are willing to support her and let her and the baby continue to live at home while she finishes school. Unfortunately, their health insurance does not cover maternity care for dependents, so her prenatal care and delivery will not be covered. Also, the baby won't be covered once born. Is there some other option for insurance for teen moms? I know there are state programs if she was on her own, but since she is staying at home they don't think she will be eligible. Does anyone know about this?
Medicaid in your state should be available to her, regardless of her living arrangements b/c she personally (I'm assuming) doesn't have income and she isn't married.
Aren't some of the reasons for teenagers being higher risk due to lifestyle choices, rather than age? Pregnant teens are more likely to smoke and less likely to receive prenatal care. How much of the difference in statistics is due to those sorts of differences, and how much to age alone? Yet another reason to make sure that teens get access one way or the other to prenatal care! (and to birth control to avoid this whole issue to begin with)
That said, I certainly wouldn't do a home birth (if interested in that option) without consulting a CNM, and wouldn't make that decision based on economics alone.
To those who say that they don't want to pay for teenage prenatal care because they resent their money being used for that purpose: it's going to cost more in the long run if teenage mothers don't get prenatal care. I'd rather pay up front with the hope of making the birth safer and the baby healthier, which even if you don't care about mother or kid, that will save everyone money in the long run.
Aren't some of the reasons for teenagers being higher risk due to lifestyle choices, rather than age? Pregnant teens are more likely to smoke and less likely to receive prenatal care. How much of the difference in statistics is due to those sorts of differences, and how much to age alone? Yet another reason to make sure that teens get access one way or the other to prenatal care! (and to birth control to avoid this whole issue to begin with)
That said, I certainly wouldn't do a home birth (if interested in that option) without consulting a CNM, and wouldn't make that decision based on economics alone.
To those who say that they don't want to pay for teenage prenatal care because they resent their money being used for that purpose: it's going to cost more in the long run if teenage mothers don't get prenatal care. I'd rather pay up front with the hope of making the birth safer and the baby healthier, which even if you don't care about mother or kid, that will save everyone money in the long run.
Some of them, but there are some risks due to age independent of other variables. Here are some links from professional sources:
A teenage mother is at greater risk than women over age 20 for pregnancy complications, such as premature labor, anemia and high blood pressure (7). These risks are even greater for teens who are under 15 years old (7
Most teenagers don't plan to get pregnant, but many do. Teen pregnancies carry extra health risks to the mother and the baby. Often, teenagers don't receive timely prenatal care, and they have a higher risk for pregnancy-related high blood pressure and its complications. Risks for the baby include premature birth and a low birthweight.
You'd be hard put to find a CNM that would do a home birth.
You'd be hard put to find a CNM that would do a home birth.
CNM's rarely attend homebirths but there are some who do and I did find one in the OP's area just through a quick google search. I also know of one CNM in my area who does homebirths.
The OP can also choose a CPM. It doesn't have to be a CNM. They are qualified and easier to find. Personally I wouldn't choose a lay midwife for myself but it is another option.
Another option that has not been mentioned is home-birth. If the pregnant teen is low risk she could plan a home-birth which would cost, on average $2500 for all prenatals visits and delivery. If she has to transfer to a hospital during labor or delivery due to an emergency her insurance would have to pay (from what I understand) as it falls into an emergency services category rather then maternity category. Of course if the teen risked out of home-birth at some point during her pregnancy she would have to find another provider and then she would be responsible for paying all prenatal and delivery expenses with her new provider which could be quite costly.
A home-birth will mean no epidural. That will certainly guarantee this teen doesn't repeat her mistake with another pregnancy in a year or 2.
And on the subject of teens being high risk, while it seems like teens might be healthier than the average pregnant woman, they are actually higher risk because their bodies have not yet matured, and this leads to increased chance of many pregnancy complications.
to try to compare birthrates of the 1950's and today (as in a post I can't find) is ridiculous.
Birth control, sex education and legal abortion weren't even available back then. Certainly not for unmarried teens. When I was in high school in the 60's a single woman of any age could not get birthcontrol and of course there was no legal abortion until the 70's.
I would bet most teens would immediately think they would want to keep the child but give her a few weeks and she will probably change her mind, especially if her parents don't encourage her with lots of promises.
And if natural childbirth with no epidural was a valid means of ensuring no further unprotected sex, the population in Asia and other underdevelped countries would not be the problem it is today.
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and he will know that I don't condone teen sex or unprotected sex for that matter) Like the old cliche it takes two to tango...
