Is this fun or creepy?

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 1, 2019

I am not a school nurse ... but worked many years with teenage moms and their newborn preemies.

One danger in doing what you are thinking about is that it may get some kids thinking about how great it would be to have a baby. Stirring up any maternal hormones may stimulate them to want their own pregnancy ... get attention for themselves ... have a baby to love and to have that baby love them back. A surprising number of teen moms get pregnant on purpose (or semi-on purpose) to get that attention and love.

Making your pregnancy the focus of so much attention without also emphasizing the responsibilities of parenthood and the unpleasant aspects of child-bearing might lead them to have false "pie in the sky" fantasies about pregnancy that might result (indirectly) in a few student pregnancies.

If you want to teach a module on pregnancy, then do it right. Get some tips and curriculum plans from the experts and follow those guidelines to avoid over-glamorizing the fun parts and inspiring a few teen pregnancies.

Just my $.02 -- as someone who has had to help many teen moms comes to grips with the reality of their situation with a new baby.

Sayyadina, BSN · Aug 2, 2019

llg, I used to teach sex education programs for disadvantaged youth and teens in state custody. We got a grant that allowed us to buy a limited number of "Baby Think It Over" dolls. There weren't nearly enough to go around so someone had the bright idea to have all the kids write an essay on why they deserved to get a doll, which we would use to select the lucky recipients. What I got was 25 essays on why they would make good teen parents. We did not do that again.

UrbanHealthRN, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2019

Part of me wants to say this is a cool idea, but the other part of me says a lot of these kids still don't understand how babies are made in responsible, consensual, healthy ways. I feel like your door would need to be balanced- maybe one side is your pregnancy facts, and the other side is a bucket of condoms with facts about STDs? They need to get the whole picture!

jnemartin, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2019

Eh, I'll skip it then. I didn't really think about some of these points because my student population is a highly competitive academic boarding school... very different than a public school setting that has lots of different worldviews and perspectives on the "timeline" or milestones of life. But you're right - better to just avoid it.

amoLucia · Aug 4, 2019

Not a school nurse here. All the school nurse PPs had terrific ideas/comments that I would never had thought about.

But my first thought as a woman was 'God forbid, what would happen if your pregnancy became seriously compromised? How hard it would be for you to change directions, esp if & when well-meaning folk asked you for details.

I can tell you're excited about this pregnancy so I'd like to say "congratulations" and best future wishes.

BSN-to-MSN, ADN, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2019

Weird, there are better tools to teach sex ed.

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2019

I wish you the best for an uneventful pregnancy. You've gotten a lot of good advice here about why advertising it may not be a great idea. However...you will have some great stories to tell the sexuality education class (hemorrhoids! Swollen ankles! I can't breathe because the baby is using my diaphragm as a springboard!)

amoLucia · Aug 5, 2019

1 hour ago, ruby_jane said:
I wish you the best for an uneventful pregnancy. You've gotten a lot of good advice here about why advertising it may not be a great idea. However...you will have some great stories to tell the sexuality education class (hemorrhoids! Swollen ankles! I can't breathe because the baby is using my diaphragm as a springboard!)

Morning sickness! Weight gain that doesn't go away; that's NOT 'baby fat'.