Making the Choice to Keep Your Baby

When you first find out that you are pregnant, one of the first choices you need to make will be whether you will keep the baby, place the child up for adoption or have an abortion. If you decide to keep the baby, there are a number of things that you’re going to want to do.

Get Medical Care

When you are a pregnant teen, it is important to get medical care - both for yourself and for your baby. You should see a doctor as soon as possible after you find out you’re pregnant. In addition to a full physical exam to screen your health, you’ll be tested for STDs and exposure to other illnesses that can affect pregnancy.

During that initial appointment, you’ll schedule additional prenatal appointments, learn more about the physical and emotional effects of pregnancy and the changes that your body will undergo and how to deal with some of the side effects of pregnancy. You’ll also learn more about daily prenatal vitamins and why you need to take them.

Make Lifestyle Changes

Not every pregnant teen engages in other high risk behaviors, but there are some common lifestyle changes that may be necessary:

  • If you smoke, you need to quit because smoking increases the risk or miscarriage and still birth, a low birth weight and, after the birth, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
  • If you drink alcohol, you need to stop; alcohol can cause both physical and mental birth defects.
  • If you use recreational drugs, quitting is essential. Drug use leads to pregnancy complications and even the death of a baby.
  • If you have been having unsafe sex, it’s important to know that this can cause harm to your baby. Start using condoms to avoid the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
  • If you drink a lot of coffee or soda or take in caffeine in other ways, you need to cut back as too much caffeine can lead to miscarriage.
  • You need to make an effort to get the right nutrition and to get enough sleep.

Focus on Nutrition

Society places a lot of pressure on women and teens to be thin and to look a certain way; often this leads to cutting calories and over-exercising. Both of these things can harm your baby; adequate nutrition is important.

Be sure that you get enough protein, calcium, iron and folic acid in your diet throughout your pregnancy and that you drink enough water; it will greatly improve the likelihood of having a healthy baby.

If you are going to continue to exercise, make sure that you focus on low impact exercises and get your doctor’s permission.

Coping with Stress

Teenagers in general have a lot of stress - pressure to fit in, pressure in school, pressure from parents and peers. Pregnant teens face even more stress both during pregnancy and after their babies are born. By learning to deal with this stress - including the frustrations of raising a baby, dealing with the opinions and attitudes of others and even anger and resentment toward themselves, the babies’ fathers and even the babies themselves - teens will be able to better transition into parenthood.

Preparing for Parenthood

Another thing that you can do in order to cope with the stress is to learn more about parenting and what it involves. Pregnant teens can attend prenatal classes - including those geared toward teens - to learn more about pregnancy itself along with feeding, diapering, keeping kids safe and other skills that help with taking care of infants.

In addition to learning more about taking care of a baby, pregnant teens need to face other responsibilities of parenthood. You’re going to need to think about:

  • Whether you’ll stay in school and, if so, who will care for the baby while you are taking classes.
  • Whether the father will be involved in raising the baby.
  • How you will meet the financial responsibilities of being a parent - how you will pay for food, clothing, diapers, car seats, strollers and other baby furniture, doctor’s appointments and child care.
  • Where you will live - especially if your parents are not supportive.