CHAPTER TWOAM I PREGNANT OR NOT? The early signs of pregnancy are:
A woman who misses a period and whose vagina has been touched by a man's penis should assume she is pregnant until she knows definitely that she is not. A doctor, nurse, or midwife should be able to tell for sure if she is pregnant after six or eight weeks. Before that, a pregnancy test can help her to know. PREGNANCY TESTSOne test uses a sample of a woman's urine. Another test uses a sample of her blood. One of these tests should be taken about two weeks after the first missed or very light period. If the test result is positive, it means yes, she is probably pregnant. The test results are nearly always right. But a woman who doesn't have another period the next month should definitely get an internal examination. She can get a pregnancy test and an examination at a PLANNED PARENTHOOD clinic, a health department clinic, in a hospital, or in a doctor's office. The people in these places can also help you learn how not to get pregnant again and can help you decide what to do if you are pregnant. If you didn't use birth control or didn't use it right, you may be pregnant. If you find out you are, you have three choices: abortion, adoption, or keeping the baby. What you have to decide right away is whether to have an abortion. If you wait too long, you may not be able to have an abortion at all. |