Pregnant?

If you are hiding a pregnancy and hoping to hide a birth, please seek prenatal care. Get help from someone you trust to make good decisions, such as a family friend or clergy.

If you have no one to turn to, go to an institution that you can trust ... your health department, your social services department, or doctor.

Plan for the birth, because giving birth alone could hurt you or your baby.

Most of all, if you do have a baby in secret, you can release it to a responsible adult. Do not leave your child alone anywhere, maybe to die.

Other Options

A woman who is about to give birth and does not want the baby has several options. Safe surrender is only one of them. Other options include keeping the baby or arranging for an adoption.

County health departments, county departments of social services, adoption agencies, and family resource centers, are some of the places women can go to. For women of very limited means, pregnant women receive comprehensive care from the beginning of pregnancy through the postpartum period. Medicaid currently covers more than 40 percent of all deliveries in North Carolina. Infants born to Medicaid-eligible women continue to be eligible until their first birthday.

Specially trained nurses and social workers called Maternity Care Coordinators (MCCs) are located in all 100 North Carolina counties to assist pregnant women in obtaining medical care and an array of social support services such as transportation, housing, job training and day care.

Adoptions can be arranged through county departments of social services or a licensed adoption agency. Sometimes family members want to adopt.

Advice for pregnant and new mothers is available at 1-800-FOR-BABY.