A guide to unexpected pregnancy for partners

Scared is an understatement. You don’t feel ready. How can you afford a baby? Aren’t you too young for this? This isn’t how you thought it would happen.

Has life dealt you a hand of cards that you don’t feel you can handle? Here’s our expert advice for how to deal with your partner’s unintended pregnancy.

1. Just breathe

No matter how overwhelmed you may feel, reflect on the truth that you aren’t the first one to go through this, and you won’t be the last.

There are others who have been given this challenge just as you have, and there is wisdom, advice and help available for you. Take a deep breath.

You are not alone.

2. Choose your perspective

How will you decide to deal with the unexpected pregnancy you are now faced with?

Will you choose to fix your thoughts on fear, guilt, worry and anger? Will you choose to focus on all the ways you may feel you could fall short? All the things that could go wrong?

Or – will you step into this new challenge, unearthing a hidden confidence you may not have known you could have?

While we can never be sure of which twists and turns life may serve us on any given day, what we can be sure of is this one thing:

“What ever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” — Napoleon Hill

The truth of the matter is that with any challenge we are dealt, including unexpected pregnancy, the perspective we choose will determine how our lives are shaped in the days, months and years that follow.

3. You’re not the only one going through this

On the other side of the phone, of the couch, or the room, there is someone else who may be feeling just as confused, scared and unsure as you are. If not more so!

In figuring out how to deal with your partner’s unexpected pregnancy, it’s important to remember that there are two of you involved.

Choose to work as a team, and to approach the conversations you will be having with a “stronger together” mindset.

4. Get support

Do you have a family member, teacher, coach, or friend that you look up to, trust and can talk to?

In life’s biggest decisions, it’s easy to let our emotions cloud our judgement and stop us from being able to see things clearly or make decisions with a cool head.

Reach out to connect with someone you know and can lean on in this time. Ask them when they’d have time for a phone call, a visit, or a coffee.

At the Pregnancy Care Centre, our team of client advocates can offer to sit with you, listen to how you are feeling, provide you with helpful information on each of your options, and support you through the entire process.

In the Edmonton or Barrhead regions, if you want to talk, make an appointment for a free support session.

5. Get informed

One of the biggest tragedies of unintended pregnancy is simply that the entire picture, or correct information on each option, isn’t always presented.

Take time to research each option, and try to seek out answers from different websites, books, or sources.

It is important to understand that unintended pregnancy is a very sensitive subject in that different sources may sometimes present information very differently.

Do your very best to seek out the most accurate, unbiased information you can.

Our experienced team of caring and experienced team is available to help with that. Connect with us here.

Pregnancy Options

The Pregnancy Care Centre offers education and support for anyone impacted by unintended pregnancy in Edmonton and Barrhead, Alberta.

Learn more about our services or get in touch with us to talk with one of our caring and compassionate team members today.