Unplanned pregnant

Sometimes a positive pregnancy test evokes not only pure joy. If the announcement of a baby bursts into life completely unplanned, the news can trigger fears about the future, uncertainty and despair. In this situation, couples and especially the women concerned face far-reaching decisions.

Offspring is on the way, but your life plan just looked quite different:

• You feel too young or too old for a child?
• You have personal or professional plans in which a place for a child seems unimaginable?
• You are in the midst of a partnership conflict or separation?
• You do not want to raise your child alone?
• Or you simply do not feel up to the responsibility for a child in the current situation?

There are many reasons why pregnancy can trigger rejection rather than joy. Affected women then not infrequently fall into an emotional chaos of severe conflicts.

In order to accept the roller coaster of emotions and come to terms with the new situation, understanding and time are needed. A conversation with a trusted person, for example a best friend, can help to classify the fears and worries. But especially in difficult life situations, it sometimes takes the expertise of a neutral person to figure out how to proceed.

Good to know: Every woman is entitled to counseling on all matters concerning her pregnancy. Pregnant women should be free to choose to have a child.

A first point of contact can be the central help phone 0800 40 40 020.

On site, more than 200 state-approved pregnancy counseling centers in North Rhine-Westphalia offer free counseling. Here you will always find an open ear for a confidential and open-ended conversation around all questions of pregnancy and possible conflicts.

Pregnancy counseling centers offer advice and help on the following topics:

• Information on all issues related to family planning, pregnancy and birth
.
• Information about social assistance for pregnant women
.
• Support in applying for financial resources
.
• Support in finding a place to live
.
• Support in finding care for the expected child
.

Also unbureaucratic financial assistance from the Federal Foundation Mother and Child is mediated by the pregnancy counseling centers. You can download a leaflet about the Federal Foundation Mother and Child on this page .

All consultations are confidential and, if desired, anonymous. To find a counseling center near you, visit www.familienplanung.de and search by zip code or by city name.

You can choose between counseling services offered by welfare associations, churches, counties and municipalities. Feel free to select the offer of the carrier with which you feel most comfortable. Please note that not all counseling centers issue a consultation certificate about a pregnancy conflict counseling, because it is not consistent with their self-image.

If you do not know whether you want to or can have the child and are considering an abortion, you will receive valuable support in pregnancy conflict counseling. Here you will not remain alone with your worries and fears. Especially if you are in a quandary, perhaps even wish to have children, just not now or not with this partner, experienced professionals can show you possible solutions without pressuring you. This makes personal decision-making easier.

If you are considering an abortion, you will also receive the so-called counseling certificate according to the counseling regulation in the state-approved pregnancy conflict counseling centers after the counseling. The consultation certificate is a prerequisite for a penalty-free abortion within twelve weeks after conception. However, this pregnancy conflict counseling may only be offered by state-approved counseling centers and medical practices.

Once you have decided to have an abortion, you need to consider where and how the abortion will be performed. Sources of information for women are still limited, as doctors in Germany are not allowed to publish whether they offer an intervention.

There are different methods for abortion. Which method is considered depends, among other things, on how far advanced the pregnancy already is. A distinction is made between medicinal and surgical methods. You should find out in advance exactly which method your doctor or the treating clinic offers.

Medicated abortion is possible up to the 63rd day after the first day of the last menstrual period. With medication abortion, two or three doctor's visits - including follow-up - are required within about 14 days.

The suction method and the curettage belong to the surgical methods. Both are usually performed on an outpatient basis in a clinic or doctor's office. After the procedure and a short period of rest, you can go home. The surgical abortion can be performed under a short general anesthesia or under local anesthesia.