PREGNANCY-BIRTH Messages for March, 1999: Re: Confused new mother

Re: Confused new mother

From: Mary (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon, 8 Mar 1999 22:50:39 -0600

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>(NOTE: My sister lives right outside of New Orleans,
>LA)
>* Where can she go (in general or specifically if
>someone knows) to find out about getting assistance
>for prenatal care?
>* What kind of assistance is out there for unwed,
>pregnant soon-to-be-mothers?

JB,

Your sister is very fortunate to have you to help her during this time of confusion in her life. :)

I would suggest your sister go to the public health department for information and care. My mother is an RN in Florida at a county health department and they have prenatal and well-baby clinics several times a week. They have an OB who sees patients there as well. She can also get information about the various assistance plans available to her.

>* Without insurance (since they won't have any)
>how much do the hospital bills run for the delivery
>of a child?

Hospital fees vary greatly depending on the birth. Obviously, an unmedicated, normal vaginal birth will be less costly than a surgical or complicated birth. If she is low-risk and everything is progressing normally, there are other options such as having a midwife for a healthcare provider as well as alternate birthing locations (birth center or home birth).

>* What good resources are there on the net? I did
>a few searches on Yahoo and Altavista but didn't
>come up with anything good. I was looking up info
>on "pregnancy welfare assistance" and "cost of
>pregnancy" (note: I'm not that great with the search
>engines yet. <g>). The only good site I was able
>to find was this one.

I did a search for the LA Public Health Department and didn't find anything.

>Also anything you feel like interjecting would be
>welcome. She is very confused and we, as her
>family, want to be there for moral and emotional
>support. Unfortunately, we don't have many
> answers. She doesn't want to consider abortion
>until she knows all the facts and it turns out that
>they just won't be able to make it if they have a
>child.

Sure babies *can* be expensive if you go all out. There are many ways to trim the expenses: cloth diapers (there are discount diaper stores) breastmilk is definitely cheaper than formula (and it's the ideal food anyway) gently used childrens stores which carry everything you need in the way of supplies (clothes, toys, furniture, etc.) borrow baby furniture from friends and relatives

If she really feels she cannot afford this child, please have her think about placing the baby for adoption. There are so many families who are waiting for a baby to love and raise. If she chooses this route, she could arrange for the adoptive family to pay her medical expenses.

I hope this was of some help. I'm sure some of the others here will add to what I have written.

Best wishes to your sister, and thank you for caring so much about her and her baby!

--
Mary Shoup
Pregnancy & Birth Coordinator
mary.shoup@obgyn.net

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