Pregnancy Crisis Centre

Hi all,
I am actually a member here and regular poster but wanted to ask this anonymously (that so looks like I have spelt it wrong but it's late and i'm tired!!) as I wanted to have honest opinions and also it is still in the pipelines so....

Anyway, I wanted to know, what do you think of Pregnancy Crisis Centres? Would you go to one? Would you recommend a friend go to one? What would you want from it in terms of advice or services? Do you think there is a need for one? And any other thoughts you have.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your feedback.

Give us a little bit more info, along the lines of Fallen's questions and then we can give you some better answers. Very interested to know more

i know years ago my friend used to work for a pregnancy crisis centre making up layettes. There are numbers you can call if young and pregnant. some are anti abortion though and have been known to use pretty heavy handed tactics which can be a bit harsh.
i think if you want our opinion on a service you want to put out there you need to give us a bit more info as to what type of service.

have you researched that there is nothing similar already in NZ?

we have something like that already in palmerston north

I thought the pregnancy crisis 0800 number was NZ wide. But as far as i was aware they are only to talk?

I think a service that could provide support for teens especially would be helpful, over and above the phone chat. Like providing someone to go with them to tell their parents, or go to antenatel classes with them, help them shop for what they need. Not provide the money, but go along and provide practical advice/budgeting skills.

Sort of an inbetween the teen centres where you actually move in and the helplines where you can just talk to a stranger on the phone. Especially for teens where the parents might start off angry and not willing to go to appointments etc with them at first.

OH and also offer a support person to go to abortions if thats the choice they make, if they're keeping it a secret they might not have anyone to go with them and thats hard.

And provide information on how to start the adoption process and again a support person to go to the meetings with them if parents/partners arent able or willing to provide support.

So, i guess, to sum up i'm saying a helpline that can offer some kind of trained peer support person as a 'buddy' or 'big sister/brother' sort of thing?

I didnt have a huge look over that website but to me all it seems to say was Abortion, stories about abortion, how to cope after abortion.

But like PP said i think we really need to have that option available for adoption

In terms of having something similar i see heaps of advertising for pregnancy crisis with an 0800 number. I have never used this service myself so unsure what they offer.

Edited by _SMS_

I have never been in the situation where I would need this kind of help so not sure if my opinion is very relevant but here goes!
I would think that a centre that offers the kind of buddy support that Bowie mentioned would be good. Somewhere that helped with all the options - keeping baby, adoption and abortion.

Also what about offering it to anyone who needs support rather than just teen mums. I am sure that there are women of all ages who don't live near family or are estranged from them who would benefit from buddy support

SoyBasedMama wrote: I used the Pregnancy Counselling Services they have availabe here in Wellington, might be nationwide though? I got the impression they were secretly religious, and they tried to be unbiased but were really actually pushing for me to keep it (which I did ). Anyway, I found them OK, not amazingly helpful, I guess it was good to have someone else to talk to other than the counsellor at the abortion clinic. I hate to think how things might have gone if I had rung that place you are talking about, with all it's talk of abortion abortion abortion! I was in a very sensitive place and could have very easily been swayed by advice that was overly biased.

Wish I had known about this or been told about it! Being 17 when I first got UTD all that was mentioned was abortion + the counselor I saw was at the abortion clinic who said it sounded like the right way to go even though I was so unsure!

Yes that site does go on about abortion but they are actually pro-life.
Definitely agree that there needs to be more focus on the other options in nz. My vision is to provide a drop in type centre where people can come to discuss major pregnancy issues. Examples of this may well be 15 year olds p have found themselves pregnant, but could also be women in their late 40s with an 'oopsie', long after they have completed their families, or someone who has discovered that their baby has down syndrome ( for example), these are all cases that my nana has encountered in the centre she runs in England. There could even be women that have been raped. They receive counselling and advice, including the ins and outs of all options, pertaining to their individual situations; I.e. Not just pat answers for everyone. Some may need a hand to hold or practical help, just as you are all describing, and I love your ideas.