How to care for yourself when pregnant, broke

Depending on the adoption laws in your state, the adoptive couple that you choose to match with can help you with living expenses. Some agencies will also help you locate social resources to help you while you're pregnant as well as after you place.Before you decide what you want to do, I'd suggest getting some good non-biased counseling on your options so that you can make an informed decision.Good luck to you!

Thanks for your advice!

Hello superirish! If you contact your local health department, they should be able to provide you with some resources for women who are pregnant. I believe WIC offers resources to pregnant women as well. Hope that helps! And I completely agree with amarie- definitely get non-biased counseling. Your emotional well being is just as important as your physical well being. The health department may be able to point you in the direction on that front as well. Good luck!

I was in a very similar situation when I found out I was pregnant. It was this past February when I found out, the very beginning of the semester of my senior year in college. I have two small children and when I found out I was pregnant, at first I felt OK. I knew I could survive for a while off of student loans and I had some savings from my job. I figured I'd place the baby up for adoption and kind of forgot about it...until reality hit. I became so sick with the baby I was hospitalized four times for severe dehydration. I had to drop my classes and could no longer work. Just making my children a sandwich was nearly too much for me to handle; I would vomit two or three times before I even had their sandwiches made. Trying to cook them an actual meal was more than I could do; they were living on sandwiches and hot pockets. Working was not a possibility and I realized with the nature of my work, once I started showing, I could no longer work where I did. I knew we would be alright on savings for a while but I was scared. I had two small children to care for, wouldn't be able to continue my job when the pregnancy was visible, and was currently so sick I couldn't function. I had no family to help and was too embarrassed to burden my friends. I scheduled an abortion, figuring it was the best option for all of us. In my state, before you can have an abortion, you have to listen to this automated phone message that explains your options. When it got to adoption, I was only half listening because my mind was made: I wasn't going to go into financial ruin over an unwanted pregnancy. On the recording though, I was told in my state adoptive parents can choose to pay birthmother expenses from the time the pregnancy begins: rent, clothing, gas, bills, ect. You have to wait 24 hours after the phone conversation to have the procedure and after thinking all night, I decided to not have the abortion. Because obviously there were no adoptive parents picked out yet, I applied for every government assistance program I could. Food stamps, medicaid, help with bills, housing. The waiting list for housing was about eighteen months long but I was able to get help with all the rest. I was able to pay rent from savings and as the morning sickness got better and I felt more up to it, I started searching adoptive families. I had to cut off my cell phone and do a pay by minutes phone, couldn't run around like I used to, had to be REALLY careful with my budget. I ended up finding a family in New York and after speaking for a couple of months and then meeting, was sure they were the ones. Then we found out they couldn't help with any expenses until 60 days before the baby was due...which was a month and a half away. I was able to explain this situation to my landlord (by this time my savings were gone and I had no source of income) and he was understanding of the situation after confirming that a third party would be paying rent starting July 1. I also learned to lean on friends...asking for actual help as far as getting car rides so I wouldn't have to use gas and help with childcare when I was so sick. Also, there are lots of housing options for pregnant women who want to place their children for adoption but with my own two I couldn't do that. There are so many options out there and at first it's really scary but there's a way to get around any obstacle that comes up. Good luck!