Services Offered By Pregnancy Help
Pregnancy Help offers an initial crisis contact counselling service to women who are distressed by an unplanned pregnancy The agency has provided a variety of support and referral services to those women and their families who wish to continue their unplanned pregnancy It also offers emotional support, practical and material assistance to women, both during and after their pregnancy. Pregnancy Help also endeavours to promote the cause of the responsible enjoyment of one’s sexuality by means of educational programs and counselling sessions.
Since July 1991, Pregnancy Help has responded to more than 150 client contacts, comprising approximately 120 individual clients. Pregnancy Help places a high value on supporting mothers in caring for their babies post natally Many clients have required ongoing support, sometimes up to around twelve months after the baby’s birth.
Our anecdotal impression is that the greater number of women seeking assistance has been in the 16-25 year old bracket. Approximately fifty percent of women assisted by Pregnancy Help have been single, with the remaining half being married or in stable de-facto relationships.
The main services offered by Pregnancy Help have been:
crisis counselling by telephone
face to face counselling in the office
pregnancy testing
information about Social Security benefits, practical home help and ante-natal care services
material assistance with maternity clothes and baby gear
assistance with finding accommodation during pregnancy
counselling and information about alternatives to abortion.
The agency has also on occasions assisted partners, siblings, other family members and close friends who have been distressed on account of a significant person’s pregnancy.
Agency counsellors have addressed groups of students at Bunbury Catholic College and Bunbury Senior High School during both 1992 and 1993 promoting chaste life style choices by these young people.