Teenager and Pregnant - Now What?

In today's world being a teenage girl is difficult. The pressure to get good grades, fit in with your peers, and figure out who you are, places an increased amount of stress on an already out of control situation. Many girls who find themselves pregnant while dealing with these issues will give up. Making it through this trying time can seem hopeless, but giving up is not the answer. How do I know? Because I have been there. At seventeen, I was concentrating on my future. I wanted to go to my senior prom. I wanted to visit colleges. I wanted to have fun with my friends at graduation. Then I found out that I was pregnant, and all of my dreams seemed to dissolve in one fell swoop. I thought that I was going to have to quit school and give up on my dreams, but I was not raised to be a quitter. I now own my own home, and that baby girl that I had 15 years ago, well, she is a beautiful and talented individual with just as many hopes and dreams as I had.

Now that the motivational speech is over, where do you start?

Basic Needs (Before birth planning)

First and foremost, you need to make sure that your basic needs are covered. Pre-natal care, nutritious food, and appropriate housing are an absolute necessity. Some girls in this situation may have family and friends that can offer them help, but if not, there are many federal, state, and local agencies that exist for the sole purpose of helping people get back on their feet.

Housing of urban development (HUD) is a federal agency that can often times help to locate residencies for those in need. They also provide financial assistance in many situations to help pay the rent. Check out their website here www.hud.gov.

Help with groceries can also be found in many places. One such place is Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC for short. This agency supplies coupons to low income families for items like milk, eggs, cheese, and carrots. They also help to subsidize the baby's food after birth. Applying is very easy, and the benefits to your healthy pregnancy are worth the extra effort. Their website can be found at http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/aboutwic/.
Of course food stamps may also be necessary for a time, but they aren't meant to be a permanent solution. Once the baby is born and the mom has had time to heal, searching for a job and child care should be top priority.

When pregnant medical care is more important than most people realize. Many people think that because women have healthy babies everyday, there little chance of something going horribly wrong. That is a complete fallacy, especially in young mothers. Vitamin deficiencies can cause a number of disorders in a fetus, and pregnant women need a larger amount of many minerals as well. Even without medical insurance prenatal care is available. State and local health departments have physicians on staff that will perform a complete exam and offer advice to help keep both baby and mom as healthy as possible.

Post Delivery Needs and Planning

Once mom has had time to heal, job hunting should be the next objective. To be able to do this, there needs to be someone to watch the baby. Subsidized child care is available in most localities if there is no family member able to assist. Call your local public assistance office and inquire about the benefits available in your area. Once child care is secured, it's off to job hunting. Don't be afraid to start on the bottom. If as a pregnant teen you have gotten this far, you can obviously fight for what you want. Work at McDonald's for minimum wage for a while, you never know where this will lead you. Search the want ads. Look for job fairs. Research on-line opportunities. You'll find a job, even if it is not your dream job.

Don't stop there. Once you have secured employment, decide what you really want to do with the rest of your life. Are you interested in a certain field or profession? If so, look into financial aide to help you take some classes. There are so many grants out there for people who need them, and you are one of those people. No one has ever died from working to hard, trust me I know. I worked 3 part-time jobs to get through college. Of coarse I didn't see much of my daughter then, but that was a short 4 years, and now I have the financial ability to put a roof over her head, and food in her mouth, without the help of the government. If you have a dream you can achieve it. Just put your mind to it!