USA Today had an article "Expectant mothers with diabetes face risky challenge" (by Mary Brophy Marcus) that talks about the challenges of pregnancy and diabetes.
"Almost five out of every 1,000 women ages 18 to 44 have diabetes, according to the CDC. Most have Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity."
If your pregnant daughter had diabetes before she became pregnant, you will hear her doctors use the term "pre-gestational diabetes". If she develops diabetes during pregnancy, you will hear the term "gestational diabetes." Most pregnant women are tested for gestational diabetes around the 28th week of pregnancy. About 4% of pregnant women will develop diabetes during pregnancy.
Diabetes during pregnancy "raises the risk of miscarriage, delivery complications, maternal health problems and birth defects" so make sure that your pregnant daughter gets medical attention as soon as possible during her pregnancy.
Your pregnant daughter may be referred to an endocrinologist, who will run a simple blood test called A1C. This test gives an average blood glucose reading over the last 2-3 months. "In June (2009), Diabetes Care published a study by University of Southern Denmark researchers who found that the risk of serious outcomes increased gradually when A1C levels were above 6.9%. Adverse outcomes doubled when A1C's reached 10.3%, and readings 10.4% or greater quadrupled risks."
So what can your pregnant daughter do? Keep her weight under control. Keep her blood sugar under control. Eat a careful healthy diet as directed by her doctor. Exercise as directed by her doctor. Carefully take any medications prescribed by her doctors.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Teen Sex: The Parent Factor
An article called "Teen Sex: The Parent Factor" by Christine Kim has some interesting statistics to discuss with your teens. The article has lots of references, so be sure to take a look at it!
- "About 7% of high school students report having had sex before the age of 13." Ask your teen how old they were when they first had sex.
- "By 9th grade, 1/3 of high school students have engaged in sexual activity"
- "By 12th grade, 2/3" of high school students have engaged in sexual activity. Note to your teen that even at the end of high school, NOT everyone has had sex!
- 60% of these teens who have had sex regret their first experience and wish they had waited longer. Ask your teens if they regret their sexual experiences. Do they wish they had waited longer? When would they have considered the ideal time to first have sex? How can they make plans to now abstain from sex until they are married?
- "Those who begin sexual activity at age 13 are twice as likely" get a sexually transmitted disease compared to those who remain sexually abstinent during their teen years. Has your teen been checked for sexually transmitted diseases? Do they know that some STDs may not have symptoms?
- "Nearly 40% of girls who begin sexual activity at ages 13 or 14 will give birth outside marriage, compared to 9% of those who remain abstinent until their early twenties."
- "Among women in their thirties, those who were sexually active during early adolescence are half as likely to be in stable marriages as those who waited until their early twenties to have sex." Is marriage important to your teens? If so, talk to them about waiting to have sex until they are married so that their marriage will have a better chance at success.
- 90% of parents believe they have had a "helpful conversation about delaying sex and avoiding pregnancy" with their teens. But only 71% of teens report having this conversation. Find ways to have small conversations about sex and values often instead of one big talk. Watch for opportunities based on the news, TV shows, music, and other events like prom.
- "In a study of 700 teens in Philadelphia, 58% of teens reported being sexually active, while only 1/3 of their mothers believed they were." Have you directly asked your teens if they are sexually active? What activities do you include in this... for example, many young teens mistakenly believe that oral sex is not sexual activity. So be specific in your questions and conversations!
- "Parental factors that appear to offer strong protection against the onset of early sexual activity include an intact family structure; parents' disapproval of adolescent sex; teens' sense of belonging to and satisfaction with their families; parental monitoring; and, to a lesser extent, parent-child communication about teen sex and its consequences." If your family is not intact (you are a single parent), then you'll have to take extra steps to influence your teens. Have you specifically told your kids that you do not approve of sex outside of marriage? Do you monitor your kids (where they are, what they are doing there, who they are with)? How can you improve your kids' satisfaction with the family?
The article gives a few tips on what parents can do: First, avoid sending ambiguous and mixed messages about teen sex. For example, if you don't approve of teen sex then do not say things such as "Don't have sex, but if you do you should use birth control". This is an ambiguous message. Be specific and direct in your statements, and express your values. Focus your sex talks on morals and values - simply discussing physiology and contraceptives is not enough. Strengthen your relationship with your kids by eating meals together more often, and being present when they listen to music or watch TV so that you can discuss it with them. Know where your kids are when out of school, and have rules about their behavior along with appropriate consequences.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Five Myths on Fathers and Family
The National Review recently ran an article titled "Five Myths on Fathers and Family" by W. Bradford Wilcox (a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia). Here are a few interesting tidbits from that article.
1) The 'Mr. Mom' Surge is a myth. America has 22.5 million married familes with children under the age of 15. Less than 1% of these had a stay-at-home dad in 2008, but 24% had a stay-at-home mom.
What does your single-and-pregnant daughter envision for her role as mother? Does she desire to be a stay-at-home mom?
2) Myth: Women want everything 50/50. While married mothers do want fathers to contribute to housework and childcare, most do not insist on 50/50 because they count his full-time job as a contribution to the household. "A 2007 Pew Research Center study found that only 20% of mothers with children under 18 wanted to work full-time, compared with 72% of fathers with children under 18."
Does your single-and-pregnant daughter desire to work full-time, or would she prefer to work only part-time or not at all? If the baby's father will be involved in raising their child, what expectations does she have about his contributions to childcare and support? Does the baby's father desire to work full time?
3) Myth: Marriage is just a piece of paper. "Experts now estimate that about 40% of American children will spend some time in a cohabiting household, either because they are born into such a household or because one of their parents cohabits after a breakup. ... On average, cohabiting fathers do not compare with married fathers. As Sandra Hofferth of the University of Maryland and Kermyt Anderson of the University of Oklahoma found in a recent study, married fathers are significantly more involved and affectionate with their children than are cohabiting fathers. In fact, from their research, they conclude 'that marriage per se confers advantage in terms of father involvement above and beyond the characteristics of the fathers themselves.' Married fathers are also much more likely than their cohabiting peers to stick around. One recent study by Wendy Manning at Bowling Green State and Pamela Smock at the University of Michigan found that 50% of children born to cohabiting parents saw their parents break up by age five; by comparison, only 15% of children born to married parents saw their parents divorce by age five. Dad is much more likely to stick around if he has a wedding ring on his finger."
Paul Amato's research summarizes results that cohabiting parents tend to "have less education, earn less income, report poorer relationship quality, and experience more mental health problems" than parents who are married.
Talk to your single-and-pregnant daughter about this research. Does she want her child's father to stick around? If so, what is keeping them from getting married?
4) Myth: Divorce doesn't hurt children; single-parenting doesn't hurt children. "According to research by Sara McLanahan of Princeton University and Paul Amato of Penn State, girls whose parents divorce are about twice as likely to drop out of high school, to become pregnant as teenagers, and to suffer from psychological problems such as depression and thoughts of suicide. Girls whose parents divorce are also much more likely to divorce later in life."
In Amato's article in "The Future of Children", he points out that children born to single parents "reach adulthood with less education, earn less income, have lower occupational status, and are more likely to be idle (that is, not employed and not in school), are more likely to have a nonmarital birth (among daughters), have more troubled marriages, experience higher rates of divorce, and report more symptoms of depression" than children raised in a two-parent family.
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur "found that 31% of youth with divorced parents dropped out of high school, compared with 37% of youth born outside marriage," compared to 13% of youth whose parents were continuously married. "Similarly, 33% of daughters with divorced parents had a teen birth, compared to 37% of daughters born outside marriage" and 11% of daughters with continuously married parents. "Other studies that have compared offspring in these two groups yield similar results with respect to occupational attainment, earned income, depression, and the risk of seeing one's own marriage end in divorce."
Does your single-and-pregnant daughter plan to marry the baby's father before the child is born? or at all? A father-figure is very important in the development of children. The statistics above indicate that children with married parents are less likely to have problems. They also indicate that children do a little better in a divorced family than in a single-parent family. What does your daughter think about these statistics? Do they encourage her to get married or to examine an adoption plan so her child can be raised by married parents?
5) Myth: Dads are dispensable. "Children typically do better in an intact, married families with their fathers than they do in families headed by single mothers."
"Fathers bring distinctive talents to the parenting enterprise. The work of psychologist Ross Parke, for instance, indicates that fathers are more likely than mothers to engage their children in vigorous physical play (e.g., roughhousing), to challenge their children — including their daughters — to embrace life’s challenges, and to be firm disciplinarians."
"Not surprisingly, children benefit from being exposed to the distinctive paternal style. Sociologist David Eggebeen has shown, for instance, that teenagers are significantly less likely to suffer from depression and delinquency when they have involved and affectionate fathers, even after controlling for the quality of their relationship with their mother. In his words, “What these analyses clearly show is that mothers and fathers both make vital contributions to adolescent well-being.”"
"Linda Carroll at MSNBC has written an incisive story showing that involved and affectionate fathers play a crucial role in steering their daughters away from early sexual activity; in fact, it turns out that dads are more important than moms in protecting their teenage daughters from early sex."
Who will play the role of father-figure for your daughter's child? If no one is able or willing to make this commitment, she should consider making an adoption plan that involves a married couple.
You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Where does the baby's father belong in all this?", "Should they marry?", "Teen marriage success", "The importance of a father", "Should she parent alone?", "Should we adopt the baby?", and "Should she make an adoption plan" in our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy".
1) The 'Mr. Mom' Surge is a myth. America has 22.5 million married familes with children under the age of 15. Less than 1% of these had a stay-at-home dad in 2008, but 24% had a stay-at-home mom.
What does your single-and-pregnant daughter envision for her role as mother? Does she desire to be a stay-at-home mom?
2) Myth: Women want everything 50/50. While married mothers do want fathers to contribute to housework and childcare, most do not insist on 50/50 because they count his full-time job as a contribution to the household. "A 2007 Pew Research Center study found that only 20% of mothers with children under 18 wanted to work full-time, compared with 72% of fathers with children under 18."
Does your single-and-pregnant daughter desire to work full-time, or would she prefer to work only part-time or not at all? If the baby's father will be involved in raising their child, what expectations does she have about his contributions to childcare and support? Does the baby's father desire to work full time?
3) Myth: Marriage is just a piece of paper. "Experts now estimate that about 40% of American children will spend some time in a cohabiting household, either because they are born into such a household or because one of their parents cohabits after a breakup. ... On average, cohabiting fathers do not compare with married fathers. As Sandra Hofferth of the University of Maryland and Kermyt Anderson of the University of Oklahoma found in a recent study, married fathers are significantly more involved and affectionate with their children than are cohabiting fathers. In fact, from their research, they conclude 'that marriage per se confers advantage in terms of father involvement above and beyond the characteristics of the fathers themselves.' Married fathers are also much more likely than their cohabiting peers to stick around. One recent study by Wendy Manning at Bowling Green State and Pamela Smock at the University of Michigan found that 50% of children born to cohabiting parents saw their parents break up by age five; by comparison, only 15% of children born to married parents saw their parents divorce by age five. Dad is much more likely to stick around if he has a wedding ring on his finger."
Paul Amato's research summarizes results that cohabiting parents tend to "have less education, earn less income, report poorer relationship quality, and experience more mental health problems" than parents who are married.
Talk to your single-and-pregnant daughter about this research. Does she want her child's father to stick around? If so, what is keeping them from getting married?
4) Myth: Divorce doesn't hurt children; single-parenting doesn't hurt children. "According to research by Sara McLanahan of Princeton University and Paul Amato of Penn State, girls whose parents divorce are about twice as likely to drop out of high school, to become pregnant as teenagers, and to suffer from psychological problems such as depression and thoughts of suicide. Girls whose parents divorce are also much more likely to divorce later in life."
In Amato's article in "The Future of Children", he points out that children born to single parents "reach adulthood with less education, earn less income, have lower occupational status, and are more likely to be idle (that is, not employed and not in school), are more likely to have a nonmarital birth (among daughters), have more troubled marriages, experience higher rates of divorce, and report more symptoms of depression" than children raised in a two-parent family.
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur "found that 31% of youth with divorced parents dropped out of high school, compared with 37% of youth born outside marriage," compared to 13% of youth whose parents were continuously married. "Similarly, 33% of daughters with divorced parents had a teen birth, compared to 37% of daughters born outside marriage" and 11% of daughters with continuously married parents. "Other studies that have compared offspring in these two groups yield similar results with respect to occupational attainment, earned income, depression, and the risk of seeing one's own marriage end in divorce."
Does your single-and-pregnant daughter plan to marry the baby's father before the child is born? or at all? A father-figure is very important in the development of children. The statistics above indicate that children with married parents are less likely to have problems. They also indicate that children do a little better in a divorced family than in a single-parent family. What does your daughter think about these statistics? Do they encourage her to get married or to examine an adoption plan so her child can be raised by married parents?
5) Myth: Dads are dispensable. "Children typically do better in an intact, married families with their fathers than they do in families headed by single mothers."
"Fathers bring distinctive talents to the parenting enterprise. The work of psychologist Ross Parke, for instance, indicates that fathers are more likely than mothers to engage their children in vigorous physical play (e.g., roughhousing), to challenge their children — including their daughters — to embrace life’s challenges, and to be firm disciplinarians."
"Not surprisingly, children benefit from being exposed to the distinctive paternal style. Sociologist David Eggebeen has shown, for instance, that teenagers are significantly less likely to suffer from depression and delinquency when they have involved and affectionate fathers, even after controlling for the quality of their relationship with their mother. In his words, “What these analyses clearly show is that mothers and fathers both make vital contributions to adolescent well-being.”"
"Linda Carroll at MSNBC has written an incisive story showing that involved and affectionate fathers play a crucial role in steering their daughters away from early sexual activity; in fact, it turns out that dads are more important than moms in protecting their teenage daughters from early sex."
Who will play the role of father-figure for your daughter's child? If no one is able or willing to make this commitment, she should consider making an adoption plan that involves a married couple.
You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Where does the baby's father belong in all this?", "Should they marry?", "Teen marriage success", "The importance of a father", "Should she parent alone?", "Should we adopt the baby?", and "Should she make an adoption plan" in our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy".
Friday, June 26, 2009
Father facts
Father Facts 5 from the National Fatherhood Initiative lists these items as some relevant facts about the importance of fathers:
In America, 24.35 million children (33.5 percent) live absent their biological father.
Source: Krieder, Rose M. and Jason Fields. Living Arrangements of Children: 2001. Current Population Reports, P70-104. Table 1. Washington, D.C.: US Census Bureau, 2005.
Child Abuse: Using data from 1000 students tracked from seventh or eighth grade in 1988 through high school in 1992, researchers determined that only 3.2 percent of the boys and girls who were raised with both biological parents had a history of maltreatment. However, a full 18.6 percent of those in other family situations had been maltreated.
Source: Smith, Carolyn and Terence P. Thornberry. “The Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Adolescent Involvement inDelinquency.” Criminology, 33 (1995): 451-479.
Poverty: In 1997, 65% of poor children lived in households that did not include their biological fathers, compared to 25% of children who were not poor.
Source: Feeley, Theresa J. “Low Income Noncustodial Fathers: A Child Advocate’s Guide to Helping Them Contribute to the Support of Their Children.” National Association of Child Advocates Issue Brief, National Association of Child Advocates, Washington, D.C., February, 2000.
Education: A study of 1,330 children from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics showed that fathers who are involved on a personal level with their child’s schooling increases the likelihood of their child’s achievement. When fathers assume a positive role in their child’s education, students feel a positive impact.
Source: McBride, Brent A., Sarah K. Schoppe-Sullivan, and Moon-Ho Ho. “The mediating role of fathers’ school involvement on student achievement.” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 26 (2005): 201-216.
Crime: Children raised in single-parent families and surrounded by children of single-parent families at school are at the greatest risk of delinquency.
Source: Anderson, Amy L. “Individual and contextual influences on delinquency: the role of the single-parent family.” Journal of CriminalJustice, 30 (November 2002): 575-587.
Emotional and Behavioral Problems: A study using a nationally representative sample of 6,287 children ages 4-11 years old indicated that children in single-parent homes are more likely to experience emotional problems and use mental health services than children who live with both biological parents.
Source: Angel, Ronald J. and Jacqueline L. Angel. “Physical Comorbidity and Medical Care Use in Children with Emotional Problems.” Public Health Reports 111 (1996): 140-145.
Physical Health: A fathers’ body mass index (a measurement of the relative composition of fat and muscle mass in the human body) is directly related to a child’s activity level. In a study of 259 toddlers, more active children were more likely to have a father with a lower BMI than less active children.
Source: Finn, Kevin, Neil Johannsen, and Bonny Specker. “Factors associated with physical activity in preschool children.” The Journal of Pediatrics 140 (Jaary 2002): 81-85.
If the baby's father will not be involved in the life of your daughter's child, who will act as father figure for that child? If no one will commit to this role, your daughter should research adoption so that her child can benefit from having a father figure. You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Where does the baby's fahter belong in all this?", "Forgiving the baby's father", "The importance of a father", "Should she parent alone?", and "Should she make an adoption plan?" from our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy".
In America, 24.35 million children (33.5 percent) live absent their biological father.
Source: Krieder, Rose M. and Jason Fields. Living Arrangements of Children: 2001. Current Population Reports, P70-104. Table 1. Washington, D.C.: US Census Bureau, 2005.
Child Abuse: Using data from 1000 students tracked from seventh or eighth grade in 1988 through high school in 1992, researchers determined that only 3.2 percent of the boys and girls who were raised with both biological parents had a history of maltreatment. However, a full 18.6 percent of those in other family situations had been maltreated.
Source: Smith, Carolyn and Terence P. Thornberry. “The Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Adolescent Involvement inDelinquency.” Criminology, 33 (1995): 451-479.
Poverty: In 1997, 65% of poor children lived in households that did not include their biological fathers, compared to 25% of children who were not poor.
Source: Feeley, Theresa J. “Low Income Noncustodial Fathers: A Child Advocate’s Guide to Helping Them Contribute to the Support of Their Children.” National Association of Child Advocates Issue Brief, National Association of Child Advocates, Washington, D.C., February, 2000.
Education: A study of 1,330 children from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics showed that fathers who are involved on a personal level with their child’s schooling increases the likelihood of their child’s achievement. When fathers assume a positive role in their child’s education, students feel a positive impact.
Source: McBride, Brent A., Sarah K. Schoppe-Sullivan, and Moon-Ho Ho. “The mediating role of fathers’ school involvement on student achievement.” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 26 (2005): 201-216.
Crime: Children raised in single-parent families and surrounded by children of single-parent families at school are at the greatest risk of delinquency.
Source: Anderson, Amy L. “Individual and contextual influences on delinquency: the role of the single-parent family.” Journal of CriminalJustice, 30 (November 2002): 575-587.
Emotional and Behavioral Problems: A study using a nationally representative sample of 6,287 children ages 4-11 years old indicated that children in single-parent homes are more likely to experience emotional problems and use mental health services than children who live with both biological parents.
Source: Angel, Ronald J. and Jacqueline L. Angel. “Physical Comorbidity and Medical Care Use in Children with Emotional Problems.” Public Health Reports 111 (1996): 140-145.
Physical Health: A fathers’ body mass index (a measurement of the relative composition of fat and muscle mass in the human body) is directly related to a child’s activity level. In a study of 259 toddlers, more active children were more likely to have a father with a lower BMI than less active children.
Source: Finn, Kevin, Neil Johannsen, and Bonny Specker. “Factors associated with physical activity in preschool children.” The Journal of Pediatrics 140 (Jaary 2002): 81-85.
If the baby's father will not be involved in the life of your daughter's child, who will act as father figure for that child? If no one will commit to this role, your daughter should research adoption so that her child can benefit from having a father figure. You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Where does the baby's fahter belong in all this?", "Forgiving the baby's father", "The importance of a father", "Should she parent alone?", and "Should she make an adoption plan?" from our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy".
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Real Story: Mahogany
ABC Primetime ran a series of articles featuring teen moms. This article is the story of Mahogany.
"Mahogany became pregnant between the eighth and ninth grades, and gave birth to her son Khaesyn just two weeks before her 15th birthday." Mahogany's mother was also a teen mother and had been raising Mahogany as a single mother. The father of Mahogany's child is only occassionally involved with his child. When Mahogany discovered she was pregnant at 14, she considered abortion, but her mother would not give her the permission she needed in her state of Kentucky. Mahogany is now glad that she didn't get an abortion.
Mahogany attends a special school program that provides educational, medical and daycare support services to the 320 girls enrolled. This program helps 96% of its teen moms to graduate from high school. Mahogany intended to go to college and she has a career goal.
What are your pregnant daughter's dreams for her education? Does she have a career goal? Would an adoption plan help her achieve her goals? You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Completing school", "Should she parent alone?", "Should we adopt the baby?", and "Should she make an adoption plan?" in our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy."
"Mahogany became pregnant between the eighth and ninth grades, and gave birth to her son Khaesyn just two weeks before her 15th birthday." Mahogany's mother was also a teen mother and had been raising Mahogany as a single mother. The father of Mahogany's child is only occassionally involved with his child. When Mahogany discovered she was pregnant at 14, she considered abortion, but her mother would not give her the permission she needed in her state of Kentucky. Mahogany is now glad that she didn't get an abortion.
Mahogany attends a special school program that provides educational, medical and daycare support services to the 320 girls enrolled. This program helps 96% of its teen moms to graduate from high school. Mahogany intended to go to college and she has a career goal.
What are your pregnant daughter's dreams for her education? Does she have a career goal? Would an adoption plan help her achieve her goals? You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Completing school", "Should she parent alone?", "Should we adopt the baby?", and "Should she make an adoption plan?" in our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy."
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Free Webinar: Strategies for Parenting Teens - A Guide To Balanced Parenting
The National Fatherhood Institute will be offering a free webinar on Thursday, June 25, 2pm-3pm Eastern Time. The topic is "Strategies for Parenting Teens - A Guide To Balanced Parenting"
Learn strategies for successfully balancing your life with your teen's, and for navigating the ups and downs of the teen years. This webinar will help you balance work and family priorities while developing and maintaining a healthy relationship with your teen(s).
The information on how to join the Webinar and to participate in the teleconference will be provided in a separate e-mail after you confirm your registration.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer
Learn strategies for successfully balancing your life with your teen's, and for navigating the ups and downs of the teen years. This webinar will help you balance work and family priorities while developing and maintaining a healthy relationship with your teen(s).
The information on how to join the Webinar and to participate in the teleconference will be provided in a separate e-mail after you confirm your registration.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer
Real Story: Hannah
ABC Primetime ran a series of articles about teen moms. This article is the story of Hannah. Hannah was the homecoming queen, a cheerleader, played volleyball and was involved in lots of school activities. In the fall of her senior year of high school, she discovered she was pregnant after she and a friend went to buy a pregnancy test one night at a school basketball game. Hannah's first reaction was to cry and ask "What do I do?" When she told her boyfriend about the positive test, "he was surprised and he didn't take it well at all."
Hannah had a sonogram at about 7.5 weeks of pregnancy and discovered that she was carrying triplets. "As a church-going Christian whose faith is vitally important to her, she thought it was God's plan and never considered abortion. But at her next appointment, Hannah learned that one of the babies had stopped growing, and there would be just two babies, both girls."
The gossip at Hannah's school spread quickly. What gossip has your pregnant daughter faced as her pregnancy became known? Get her counseling help to deal with all the emotions she is facing.
Hannah's high school has about 20 pregnant students each year and has a support program to help the teen parents graduate. Does your pregnant daughter's school have a program to help her finish her education?
Hannah gave birth to her twin daughters two months early, but one of them died 12 days later. Help your daughter learn about premature birth and talk to her doctor to see if there are things your daughter should be doing to help minimize the risk of her child being born early.
Hannah is not in a relationship with her child's father currently, but he says he wants to be involved with his daughter as she grows up. Is your pregnant daughter still in a relationship with her child's father? How does he want to be involved in the life of his child? You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Where does the baby's father belong in all this?", "Forgiving the baby's father", and "The importance of a father" in our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy."
Hannah had a sonogram at about 7.5 weeks of pregnancy and discovered that she was carrying triplets. "As a church-going Christian whose faith is vitally important to her, she thought it was God's plan and never considered abortion. But at her next appointment, Hannah learned that one of the babies had stopped growing, and there would be just two babies, both girls."
The gossip at Hannah's school spread quickly. What gossip has your pregnant daughter faced as her pregnancy became known? Get her counseling help to deal with all the emotions she is facing.
Hannah's high school has about 20 pregnant students each year and has a support program to help the teen parents graduate. Does your pregnant daughter's school have a program to help her finish her education?
Hannah gave birth to her twin daughters two months early, but one of them died 12 days later. Help your daughter learn about premature birth and talk to her doctor to see if there are things your daughter should be doing to help minimize the risk of her child being born early.
Hannah is not in a relationship with her child's father currently, but he says he wants to be involved with his daughter as she grows up. Is your pregnant daughter still in a relationship with her child's father? How does he want to be involved in the life of his child? You may find it helpful to read the chapters "Where does the baby's father belong in all this?", "Forgiving the baby's father", and "The importance of a father" in our book "How To Survive Your Teen's Pregnancy."
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