Crisis Pregnancy - Thou shalt not judge

Crisis pregnancy still poses serious difficulties for many women in our society.

One out of every 403 births outside of Dublin is concealed and one in every 625 births in the capital.

A variety of factors prompt women to conceal a pregnancy, according to the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. They often perceive a strong social stigma attached to becoming pregnant outside a relationship.

Such perceptions may be out of date, but they are very real to anyone who perceives a pregnancy as a crisis. Hence the agency has been striving to increase the network of support for women who experience a crisis pregnancy.

In recent years there have been some horrific cases of the tragic deaths of young women in such circumstances. These things should not happen in the 21st century, and it is important that health professionals should be trained to deal with what unfortunately is still not an uncommon situation.

Crisis pregnancy counselling has expanded by nearly 50% since 2001, and is currently available in 27 locations throughout the country. This has resulted in a welcome 25% drop in crisis pregnancies.

The agency has funded a training course for professionals at NUI Maynooth. It is also important that society should be educated to adopt a mature, non-judgmental attitude towards all pregnant women.