Ready or not: Many services available for women with unplanned pregnancies

Having an unplanned pregnancy can be a stressful, frightening time in a woman's life. In Cape Girardeau, there are several locations -- including Birthright, Options for Women and Lutheran Family and Children's Services -- where women can find counseling, care and alternative options for their pregnancy.

Options for Women is a faith-based, interdenominational, not-for-profit organization completely funded by fundraisers and private donations.

"Our goal is to help for the long term and support families through the process," says Michelle Scherer, executive director of the organization.

At the facility, at 354 S. Silver Springs Road in Cape Girardeau, women are offered pregnancy tests; advocacy and counseling regarding options and services available; education information regarding pregnancy, adoption and abortion alternatives; parenting classes; and some material support. The center also offers first-trimester ultrasounds between 7 and 14 weeks.

Parenting classes meet every other Monday night for mothers and couples. The classes feature a curriculum from Heritage House, which covers pregnancy through the baby's first 12 months. Scherer says they plan to expand the program to offer guidance as the children continue to grow.

Pregnant woman with a laptop computer

Individuals who go to the parenting classes earn points, which they can then use to shop in the facility's baby boutique. The boutique has diapers, wipes, household items, clothing for babies and other baby items.

"It's kind of an incentive-based program, to keep them involved in the program," Scherer says.

Another positive effect of the parenting classes is the reinforcement that the women are not alone in their pregnancy, and have a number of options available to them.

"I think they need to know they're not alone. And for a lot of them, they see others that are in the same situation they're in and it's kind of a relief to them to know that, 'It's not just me,'" says Kim Backfisch, director of client services at Options for Women.

Just down the road is Lutheran Family and Children's Services, a not-for-profit social services organization at 3178 Blattner Drive.

LFCS offers parenting classes, along with a birth parent program for women with unplanned or crisis pregnancies. Counseling and services last until the baby is 1 year old, but may continue after that time.

"We're helping women who might feel that abortion is their only option, to be able to look at their other options and get some support with that," says Evelyn Beussink, assistant director of the LFCS Southeast Missouri Region.

Beussink says about 1 percent of women with unplanned pregnancies in the area choose adoption.

"We want women to know about adoption because a lot of times they might have misinformation or they don't know how things have changed through the years, so we think it's important for everybody who might be unexpectedly pregnant to know about adoption," Beussink says.

Through the entire pregnancy, LFCS counselors encourage the women to have a goal, whether it be going back to school, finding stable housing or being self-sufficient, says Leisa Blissett, director of the LFCS Southeast Missouri Region.

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"To actually see a client that comes in homeless or anything that makes them in that crisis, and to see them thrive, or even if it's a baby step, but to see them meet that goal, that's very rewarding for them to see it in themselves," Blissett says.

For a number of women with unplanned pregnancies, knowing they have support and someone who cares about them can make all the difference.

"Seeing the relief on a client's face when they see that they have somebody that cares about them that wants to hear their story, that wants to walk beside them as they try to change their life, that's pretty awesome," Beussink says.

Another option in Cape Girardeau is Birthright, a not-for-profit organization at 2633 Hopper Road that has offered support for women with unplanned pregnancies for more than 45 years.

Birthright offers free counseling to talk about life options, financial services, maternity and baby clothes and assistance with parenting supplies like diapers, formula and breast pumps.

Kim Sellers, director of Birthright, says one of their main goals is to help women further their education, whether that be taking the HiSET exam to get their high school diploma, going on to nursing school or going back to school.

"We're all about educating them; we want to educate them so they can support their family," Sellers says.

One of the most important goals of Birthright and the other organizations in the area is to give women support and let them know others care about them, no matter their choices.

"To tell them that we support life and to help them choose life and then send them out and do nothing about it is a travesty, and that's not what we do," Sellers says. "We want to support them as much as we can to support the choice that they make."

About 400 women go through Birthright on an average monthly basis, and more than 1,100 mothers were given help and support in 2015.

"Women need to be supported. Some women, they have no one and they have nothing," Sellers says.

Local facilities available for women and families with unplanned pregnancies work collaboratively to ensure each woman or family has the best experience and best options available to them. Each organization does community referrals, and encourages women to go to the other organizations if they see a need they can fulfill.

Beussink and Sellers facilitate a support group for mothers who have chosen adoption, called Hope and Healing Birth Parent Support Group, which meets at 6 p.m. the second Thursday of every month at the LFCS office.

On the third Wednesday of every month, Birthright collaborates with Building Blocks, a prenatal and early childhood nursing program, to host Mom's Club, a support group for new moms.

"Family, my whole life, has been a mainstay and a very important thing. Anything we can do to strengthen families in today's world, whatever that means, we want to be there for them and do that," Scherer says.

All services offered by Birthright, LFCS and Options for Women are free and confidential.

The nearest clinic that offers abortion services is in St. Louis, but some area doctors may prescribe the abortion pill.