Crisis pregnancy group targets women in late 30s

A CRISIS pregnancy group, which has already received almost 200,000 calls for help on its mobile phone text service, is starting a campaign to reach out to women in their late 30s and early 40s.

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency’s Positive Options text service, which is mainly used by women aged 15 to 30, was set up in December 2002 on a pilot basis.

Caroline Spillane, the agency’s programmes and communications manager, said the service had received around 191,000 calls.

Women looking for help can text 50444 to receive a list of six national agencies, including One Family, Cura, Irish Family Planning Association, Life, Pact and Dublin Well Women.

The service was not widely promoted until April 2003. On the first day it was widely advertised it received 1,000 requests.

Since it was established all of the counselling agencies involved have increased opening hours by 50%.

Ms Spillane said all nine State-funded crisis pregnancy agencies were expecting to be very busy after Christmas. The service received more than 20,000 text messages last January.

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency is launching a separate campaign next January aimed at women in their late 30s and early 40s.

“There are a lot of women in this age group whose families are completed but for whatever reason experience a crisis pregnancy. We want to make sure that they know we are here for them as well,” said Ms Spillane.

She said a crisis pregnancy may be a shock to women who thought they had finished rearing a family.

Older women may also have medical concerns about having a child.

“It’s important to remember that women in this age group are not a homogenous group. Some may be married with children, some may be single. Others may be separated and have children from a previous marriage,” she said.

In addition to the six agencies listed in the text message service, there are three new regional crisis pregnancy counselling agencies based in Mayo, Galway and the midlands.

The service was set up over concerns that more than one-third of women seeking abortions do not contact a doctor or agency before travelling abroad to terminate the pregnancy.