When I was pregnant with the Munchkin, my Mother informed me that there was no way they would give me an epidural. She said that the hospital staff would be judgemental and want to make me "atone for my sins" by enduring the pain of labor whilst unmedicated. Where did she gather this horror story? That's how she was treated in 1981 during her thirty-six hour labor and delivery with, oh yes, none other than me! She was wrong; I got an epidural but she was right on some levels. The hospital staff was outrageously rude to me. Though, some of my... more

Even on these amazingly informative blogs, I had to delete a comment off of the previous post. Why? We like to point fingers at women who are pregnant, blame them for not using birth control and call them any assortment of names. Why? Does it make any sense to do so? The woman is already pregnant. She can't go back and take her birth control, not go out that night or wear a chastity belt. What goes does it do to talk... more

Or one would hope. Today we're going to look at how society's viewpoints of the young, unmarried Mother haven't made the leaps and bounds that we think they have.

I asked the Mothers if they felt that society, apart from their own family, looked down on their pregnancy and if that had any negative effect on their nine months. Sadly, the overall feeling was that, yes, society did look down on them for being a young, unmarried expectant Mother. This is the same society that we say has no problem with single... more

Your child comes home from school with a tear stained face. "I'm pregnant." What do you say? How do you react? And most importantly, how do you convey the seriousness of the situation while still assuring your child that you love him or her?

I don't have the answers. From looking at the survey answers by our five Mothers, I am left wondering what we can do for the future generations. Is it possible for us to incorporate talk about unplanned pregnancy into our home discussions about sex and consequences? Every family handles... more

Just like no one says when they grow up, "I want to be a junkie," no parent holds their new child and says, "Man, I hope you have a child while you are still too young to make any decisions for yourself and it would be even more awesome if you were unmarried at the time." While some families, especially those who have dealt with unplanned pregnancies in the past, may be more open and understanding, wishing the judgement that passes on unwed Mothers and Fathers is not something that many parents would sign their own children up... more

Let me tell you a little about these women before I begin discussing the results of the survey. I interviewed five Mothers of varying age, background and year of pregnancy. Though, I must note, all of the women who participated in this survey are of caucasian descent.

These Mothers experienced their unplanned pregnancies from the years 2000 through this year. (One is due at the beginning of 2007!) They ranged in age from 16 to 24 at... more

This week I am going to be doing a series on a small survey that I conducted with Mothers who have been through an unplanned pregnancy in the past six (or so) years. I chose Mothers who placed, Mothers who parented and one Mother who went through the unfortuante experience of a miscarriage. I must note that all of these women were unmarried at the time of pregnancy.

Why did I decide to do a survey on this topic for this blog? Why did I decide to involve more than just Mothers who had placed children for adoption? Too often... more

Have we, as a human race, lost all possibility of human empathy? Are we now a culture of people who would rather throw Mamma from the train than extend a little compassion to those who are hurting or in need? While reading through news stories and blogs today, I came across this interesting factoid. The actress who will be portraying the Virgin Mary in the upcoming movie The Nativity Story is pregnant.... more