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Pregnancy Concerns and No Insurance

QUESTION

Dear Midwife,
I am not sure if I am pregnant or not. I recently lost my insurance due to cut backs so I can't go to the OB/GYN.

I have had very irregular periods for twelve years since the birth of my youngest child. They have always been painful with heavy flow and a lot of clotting...until recently. Suddenly for the last three months they have been every 28 days and very light pink, not even filling a pad a day!

In the three weeks following the last mensus I have had severe headaches that I associated with bad teeth. But suddenly I am also experiencing bad heartburn(without eating) and bouts of nausea and dizziness.

Is it nerves or something else?

ANSWER

Sorry, this is not something that can be diagnosed over the internet. You need to purchase a good quality home pregnancy test or go to a clinic with either free pregnancy tests (check the phone book or internet) or a sliding scale.

In many states, if you are pregnant you can get prenatal care with medical coupons if you cannot afford other insurance. But you need to know if you are pregnant.

If you are not, then it is important to find out what is going on. There are safety net clinics in most areas that will help you.

Good luck!
~Cynthia

Cynthia Flynn

Cynthia Flynn, CNM. PhD, is the General Director of the Family Health and Birth Center which provides prenatal, birth, postnatal, gynecological and primary health care to underserved women and their families in Washington, D.C. Recently Cynthia served as Associate Professor of Nursing at Seattle University. There she not only taught, but remained in full scope clinical midwifery practice at Valley Medical Center where she cared for pregnant and birthing women, and practices well-woman gynecology, family planning, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

Cynthia founded Columbia Women's Clinic and Birth Center, where she took care of pregnant women and infants up to two weeks of age and attended both birth center and hospital births. Before Cynthia earned her CNM, she worked as a registered nurse in labor and delivery and postpartum and is a certified Doula and Doula trainer.