The phrase “working mother” takes on a new meaning when acollege student learns she is pregnant.
When Melissa Marrero, an interior design junior, became pregnantbefore her freshman year of college, she knew she would not have anormal student’s life when she decided to keep her baby.
“It’s very difficult to balance motherhood and being a student,”Marrero said.
Marrero said abortion was the first option suggested to her, butshe felt it was not a natural way to deal with the pregnancy.
She said looking back at how difficult motherhood is and how itwill affect both her and her daughter’s lives, she would adviselooking into options other than motherhood while being astudent.
Students already have a full plate without physically andemotionally becoming a mother, and many pregnant women in thissituation opt for the abortion alternative.
According to results from a 2000 national abortion surveillancestudy by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention andHealth Promotion, white women, unmarried women and women youngerthan 25 years old had abortions.
“Most people have a timeline or plan for their lives, and theyexpect to do things in a certain order,” said Amy Cavender, acoordinator at the Student Health Center. “That timeline would bechanged by a pregnancy while still in college, and some women arenot willing or able to accept those changes. They may also bereluctant to go through the physical changes that accompanypregnancy, or be concerned that they could not raise a child in theway that they had envisioned without a good job or a spouse.”
Marrero said balancing motherhood and being a student can bestressful.
“I am the type of student who likes to work, and I want to bethe best and do the best in my class,” she said. “But, that isreally hard because I cannot necessarily stay at school really latein the design studio because I know my daughter is waiting for meto come home. As much as I want to do my work for school, I also donot want to put her on the back burner.”
Pregnant women may decide abortion is the best option for socialor economic reasons. Abortion is a controversial subject, and somepeople see pregnancy outside of marriage as a social stigma.
“It was hard because of the stigma but it was not too bad,”Marrero said. “The more I talk to people about being a mom, youwould be surprised at how many people actually have kids.
Marrero said she usually meets at least one person in herclasses who has a child.
“Unfortunately, it’s not fair but there is a stigma, as much aswe pride ourselves on changing,” said Casey Dieck, a masscommunication senior. “College girls have plans. They cannotseriously work and earn money for a while.”
Dieck also said family members’ reactions may influence apregnant woman to choose the abortion alternative.
Michael Benton, a German junior, said he disagrees with abortionbecause the primary function of sex is to create a child.
“If one does not want to deal with the responsibilities ofhaving a child, one should not participate in the act of creating achild,” Benton said. “Freedom is what this country is all about,but you cannot have freedom without responsibility.”
An article published in a 2002 volume of Perspectives on Sexualand Reproductive Health, “Patterns in the SocioeconomicCharacteristics of Women Obtaining Abortions in 2000-2001,”analyzed a study of 10,000 women of reproductive age obtainingabortions.
The study showed that although women aged 20 to 24 have a higherabortion rate than any other age group, with 47 abortions per 1,000women of reproductive age, the abortion rate among collegegraduates was lower than average, with 13 abortions per 1,000.
Marrero said she is surprised the statistics are so low.
“Girls who are not in school are more likely looking for someoneto love them, and girls in school are more likely in school to getan education and wanting to put family life on hold,” she said.”[Having] a child while you are in school is almost impossible todo unless you are married or your family is willing to help out alot.”
Cavender said one reason fewer college students have abortionsis because they have access to more effective methods ofcontraception and emergency contraceptives such as themorning-after pill, which can be taken up to three days aftersexual intercourse.
Cavender said some of the most effective contraceptives, if usedproperly, are birth control pills and patches.
Cavender said college health centers, especially in largerschools, fill medical prescriptions for a lower price. She saidpeople have affordable access to these contraceptives, and for somestudents, it is the first time their parents are not taking them tothe doctor.
“In the past decade, there has been a big push to providestudent health services on campus,” Cavender said.
There are University programs that offer many options dealingwith the physical and emotional needs of pregnant students. Melissaenrolled her daughter at LSU’s Child Care Center, which providesdaycare services for children of LSU students, staff and facultymembers.
Cavender said women who are pregnant should talk to nurses anddoctors about their options. The Wellness Center provides an onlinedocument that lists these options to help pregnant women in thedecision-making process.
“We just tell them what the options are and try to point them inthe direction they feel comfortable with,” Cavender said.
Cavender said counseling is available for all women dealing witha difficult pregnancy. The center gives three free counselingvisits, and women who decide to have an abortion can go before andafter the abortion.
“We try to help them clarify what they want,” Cavender said. “Weidentify sources of support because a lot of times, when someonefinds out she is pregnant, she often feels isolated and ashamed. Wetry to get women to think about who they can turn to.”
Marrero said after she decided to go through with her pregnancy,her parents became an integral part of her life as a studentmother. They gave her the physical and emotional support she neededto get through her pregnancy and caring for her daughter.
“I have evening class on Mondays and Wednesdays and my mom picksher up from daycare and gives her a bath and feeds her so that waywhen I get home around 7:30 I can spend time with her before shegoes to bed and I do my homework,” she said. “Abortion is really anunnatural thing, because you can feel so many things change insideof you and it just does not feel right. My family was verysupportive, so it made me feel comfortable and not so scared.[Pregnancy] is a scary thing to go through and their support reallyhelped.”