Over-The-Counter Pregnancy Case Studies

A low birth weight infant is born. Why? He was born 10 weeks early, weighing two pounds. His teenage mother grew up in a family where high-fat meals with few fruits and vegetables were the norm and in a family situation marked by violence and substance use. She did not have access to family planning services, and hers was an unplanned pregnancy. At the time, she worked for a minimum wage in a neighborhood fast-food restaurant in a locality that did not have a "no-smoking" ordinance in effect, and although not a smoker herself, she had extensive exposure to secondhand smoke. Her employer, a small business owner, did not provide health insurance but did provide his employees with no-cost meals on both ends of the their shifts.

When her over-the-counter pregnancy test was positive, she tried to find a health care provider who would see her, but there was no obstetrical care available in her immediate community, and the closest facility that took care of uninsured women was located some distance away. She did not have a car, and there was no public transportation in her neighborhood. She knew she needed to provide additional nourishment for her fetus, so she began to eat larger amounts of high-saturated fat,
Instead, at 29 weeks of pregnancy, she developed a severe headache and visual problems, and she was rushed by taxi to the regional hospital where she was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia. When her blood pressure could not be adequately controlled, an emergency team delivered her premature son. His immature lungs were supported for several weeks by a ventilator in the neonatal intensive care unit and eventually he was sent home, with significant cognitive deficits. The stressed educational system was unable to provide individual educational support needed and at 15, he dropped out of high