Pregnancy Centre sees patient increase

Expectant mothers are keeping the Cochrane Pregnancy Care Centre busy.

With birth rates continuing to rise in Alberta – increasing by approximately 1,000 each year since 2011 – the Cochrane Pregnancy Care Centre experienced an increase in patient intake and client visits last year.

“We want to go deeper and establish relationships with clients – some might come once and others more during their pregnancy,” said Laurel Pedersen, executive director of the centre.

The centre, established in 2002, had a unique start in the early 1990s when it began with women meeting in coffee shops to take pregnancy tests in the bathroom.

“We serve women and families who are facing an unplanned pregnancy and have financial constraints or needs, and all of our clients are self-referred,” Pedersen explained.

Almost half of pregnancies in Canada are a surprise. Ready or Not, a program through Alberta Health Services, suggests 40 per cent of pregnancies in the country are unplanned.

The centre, that is free and confidential, offers women and families a safe place to discuss their options.

One teen mother shared her story about utilizing the centre’s services.

“I was eight weeks pregnant when I went to the Pregnancy Care Centre, still unsure as to what I was going to do about the strange alien in my stomach. I was very nervous about going there, not sure how they were going to react. I knew that they were somewhat religious and I was worried that they might be mad at me if I were to think about abortion,” explained the newly-pregnant teenager in a letter to the centre.

“What if they try to convince me into something I’m not ready for? But I’ve got good news, they didn’t. They didn’t care that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. All they wanted was to support me through it all.”

The teen was 17 years old when she became pregnant and after a visit to the centre and reading books on becoming a mother, she decided to become a parent.

“At the beginning of this journey, I was only 17 and this baby had nothing, not even a mom who was sure she wanted him, but flash forward and now you’ve got a very excited 18-year-old mommy-to-be and a soon-to-be-born lovely baby boy,” the teen said.

“The Pregnancy Care Centre is always there for you. Young or old, rich or poor, they will always be there to help support you in your decisions, no matter what. They are genuinely amazing people.”

In addition to providing supports for women, the centre offers programs for everyone affected by unplanned pregnancies and the decision. Those include a variety of supports for partners – such as a recent post-abortion retreat for men.

“Basically, we had been working on this for a couple of years. Our sense is, as with women, there are some men who struggle in the whole involvement and, sometimes, (the affects) show up soon and sometimes it’s decades later,” Pedersen said.

“As we started to study and learn about it, we started to have conversations with men that indicated a struggle. It is very common but under examined.”

The centre is a registered non-profit that relies on a team of volunteers and annual fundraisers to keep it going.

The upcoming Annual Banquet is a fundraiser Spray Lake Sawmills has been a big supporter of for years.

The annual banquet will be held March 17 at the Bow Valley Baptist Church, starting at 6 p.m. There will be dinner, live auction and a program throughout the night.

Early bird ticket sales end Feb. 24. Regular tickets are $40 each, or a table of eight for $275.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the centre’s staff at 403-932-2900, or by email at [email protected].

For more information on the Cochrane Pregnancy Care Centre, go to cochranepreg.com.