junior high student thinks she is pregs

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Help! I had a teacher come to me and tell me that her 8th grade student confided in her that she thinks she may be pregnant. The student lives with her father and is scared to tell him what is going on. I've passed this information on to our counselor but nothing has been done about it yet (that was 2 days ago). The student is not sure when her last menstrual cycle was and is completely freaking out over it. The "incident" happened approx 2 weeks ago, and I do know (per the teacher) that it was with a minor boy, so I know I'm not dealing with an adult/minor type situation here. I was hoping the counselor would take the lead on this since she already has an established relationship with this child and her father, but she hasn't and I know this issue has to be addressed ASAP. The child has no idea that the teacher has come to me, so she is probably going to be blind-sided when she gets called down to the office to see me or her counselor. I've not had to deal with this situation before. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Home Health, Hospice, School.

Latest update: The counselor intervened - pulled the student in, questioned her, called Dad up here and filled him in. He was upset, but okay, and they will get through it together. He left to take the student to the doctor (gyno) to have her checked out. All is well now. I'm glad that's over! Counting down the days till summer vacation! :eek:

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Home Health, Hospice, School.

Thanks everyone for your input!

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Latest update: The counselor intervened - pulled the student in, questioned her, called Dad up here and filled him in. He was upset, but okay, and they will get through it together. He left to take the student to the doctor (gyno) to have her checked out. All is well now. I'm glad that's over! Counting down the days till summer vacation! :eek:

See, and here in NY I could get in trouble for calling the parents. I'm glad it was taken off you.

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*crickets*

Back Off Topic?

(Kidding.)

Yay! Off topic!

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Latest update: The counselor intervened - pulled the student in, questioned her, called Dad up here and filled him in. He was upset, but okay, and they will get through it together. He left to take the student to the doctor (gyno) to have her checked out. All is well now. I'm glad that's over! Counting down the days till summer vacation!

Hope all turns out well for this girl! And the boy

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Hope all turns out well for this girl! And the boy

And the parents... :o

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And the parents...

(grandparents)

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Specializes in Dialysis.
I have 4th and 5th graders talking about having boyfriends and girlfriends. I thought that was absurd, until I realized their parents posted pics of the two love birds hanging out at each others houses on the weekend......NOW THAT IS CRAZY!!

I'm not a SN, but wanted to add that a NP who comes to my facility has a 3rd grade daughter who is 'dating' a colleagues' 5th grade son. The NP told me that she hopes her daughter doesn't do anything to mess up her promotion within the partnership. WT*!😲

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If this student has had SI in the past, the first thing you need to do is ensure her safety.

That means counseling her, and determining if she has a plan in place if she is, indeed, pregnant. Assist her in developing some coping skills.

Secondly, I'd assess her knowledge. Sounds like there's been some hearsay. It's near impossible that the student or her teacher "know" she's pregnant if the "incident" occurred two weeks ago!

Does she know how pregnancy occurs, and how to prevent it?

Does she understand consent?

At the very least, I'd make sure she's safe, that she isn't being coerced into sex, and that she understands the physical/emotional components of becoming sexually active (not a lecture, just the facts). Then I'd give her resources. Let her know what her options are. She can (at least here), legally, get pregnancy and STD testing, and acquire birth control, without involving her parent. So, if she can't do those things at your school, let her know where she can go to do it. In some states, PP or other providers offer those services for free to adolescents. If she is pregnant, give her reliable sources to counsel her about her options. Just make sure it's not some fake pregnancy crisis center. There's a lot of support services out there.

*Edit: I just saw the update. So, this is the part I think is really, really important--even with her dad involved and a GYN appointment scheduled:

Finally, I'd definitely consider possible pregnancy in an eighth grader a red flag. Maybe it was consensual sex with another minor, but at that age, and combined with a hx of SI, I'd be weary that something else is going on.

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If this student has had SI in the past, the first thing you need to do is ensure her safety.

That means counseling her, and determining if she has a plan in place if she is, indeed, pregnant. Assist her in developing some coping skills.

Secondly, I'd assess her knowledge. Sounds like there's been some hearsay. It's near impossible that the student or her teacher "know" she's pregnant if the "incident" occurred two weeks ago!

Does she know how pregnancy occurs, and how to prevent it?

Does she understand consent?

At the very least, I'd make sure she's safe, that she isn't being coerced into sex, and that she understands the physical/emotional components of becoming sexually active (not a lecture, just the facts). Then I'd give her resources. Let her know what her options are. She can (at least here), legally, get pregnancy and STD testing, and acquire birth control, without involving her parent. So, if she can't do those things at your school, let her know where she can go to do it. In some states, PP or other providers offer those services for free to adolescents. If she is pregnant, give her reliable sources to counsel her about her options. Just make sure it's not some fake pregnancy crisis center. There's a lot of support services out there.

*Edit: I just saw the update. So, this is the part I think is really, really important--even with her dad involved and a GYN appointment scheduled:

Finally, I'd definitely consider possible pregnancy in an eighth grader a red flag. Maybe it was consensual sex with another minor, but at that age, and combined with a hx of SI, I'd be weary that something else is going on.

Oof. You verbalized what was floating in the back of my mind.

I don't know actual stats, but when I worked at the clinic, maybe about 30%??? of our underage pregnancies were rape. And incest. :sorry:

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing, Pediatrics.
If the "incident" took place two weeks ago, a pregnancy test may or may not be accurate. Depending on her LMP or ovulation. That's assuming she actually had intercourse (I really hope not. 8th grade????). If the boy ejaculated and she was simply nearby, maybe she does not understand that she cannot get pregnant from that. In any case, she needs intervention.

I lost my virginity in 7th grade.

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Shouldn't CPS be involved in this child's life? We are talking about a child at risk who is engaging in activity that could lead to another child at risk.

Call me crazy, but I think an IUD would be calling my kid's name. Hopefully, at the gyno this will all be straightened out.

There are some states that sadly have little to no Planned Parenthood or many options. Makes it tough for any person to get birth control.

This kid is at risk. I would most definitely call in the resources for this case.

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