Have you noticed the early signs of pregnancy? In this guide, we’ll point out the best that Pittsburgh has to offer in women’s health and family planning. This resource is for everyone: women with health insurance, women without insurance, teenagers, young women, older women, and women with low to no income.

Help For Pregnant Women In Pittsburgh

The first step is, of course, to make sure that you’re pregnant. Pittsburgh is home to many places that offer free pregnancy testing, including:

  • Adagio Health
    960 Penn Ave #600
    Pittsburgh, PA 15222
    You can schedule an appointment online here.
  • Allegheny Reproductive Health Center
    5910 Kirkwood Street
    Pittsburgh, PA 15206
    http://www.alleghenyreproductive.com/

Schedule an appointment, take the test, and know for sure.

Understanding Your Situation

Once you know, it’s time to begin deciding what you’ll do. We’re not going to lie: this can be tough, really tough. None of the possibilities, abortion, adoption, or parenting, are easy; in fact, they’re all difficult in their own way. But the fact that you have options is huge. And there are plenty of people out there who just want you to make the best decision for yourself.

You can call our pregnancy options counselors 24 / 7, free of charge, at 1-855-711-1609 of fill out our contact form here. We’re here to lend an ear, discuss our own experiences, and help you sort out your own feelings. No pressure.

Finding A Health Care Provider

Even if you haven’t made up your mind, visiting a medical professional for prenatal appointments is absolutely essential to your health, and that of your baby. Of course, Pittsburgh is home to hundreds, if not thousands, of OB / GYNs, midwives, Maternal – Fetal Medicine Doctors (who focus on high-risk pregnancies), and general doctors. For a quick overview of these types of doctors, visit our sponsor site’s blog on “Your First Prenatal Appointment: What To Expect.”

But the question remains: how do you choose? Your decisions will probably be restrained by your finances, but no matter how much you make, there are professionals willing to help. Here are our recommendations for pregnancy health resources in Pittsburgh:

If You Already Have Insurance

Already have insurance through your parents or employer? The OB / GYN and Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors at Magee – Womens Hospital, a teaching hospital for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, are widely considered Pittsburgh’s best prenatal health professionals. Magee’s main building is at 300 Halket Street, but they have numerous additional clinic locations across the city.

If You Still Need Health Insurance, Or Can’t Afford It

If you don’t have health insurance yet, but think you can afford it, the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called “Obamacare”) ensures that no insurance company can deny you coverage because of your pregnancy. Before Obamacare, insurers could deny people coverage if they had “pre-existing medical conditions.” Essentially, they knew ahead of time that you would need treatment and that they would need to pay for it. Oddly (or perversely, depending on how you look at it), pregnancy was one of these conditions.

Obamacare also made it illegal for insurance companies to charge women more than men. Before, women often had to pay more per month, just because they could get pregnant.

If you want to sign up for affordable health insurance, or find out whether or not you can afford it, visit http://healthcare.gov/, select “Pennsylvania” in the drop-down menu, and start reviewing your options!

But some of us can’t afford health insurance, even the less expensive plans offered through the Marketplace. That’s okay, because the Pennsylvania State government offers several low-cost options for pregnant women living in Pittsburgh. Some of these are even free; most are “pay-what-you-can.”

Community Health Centers

Pennsylvania is served by around 170 community health centers, which offer essential medical services to residents on an ability-to-pay basis. The cost of any procedure is usually determined by taking your current income and any savings into account. Pittsburgh itself is home to at least 17 centers, and their mission is to provide quality care to people without insurance. Here are a few links to start your search. All of these health centers offer OB / GYN and prenatal care:

You can search for the community health center closest to you on the US Department of Health & Human Services’ website, or check out this list of health centers in Allegheny County at the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers.

SelectPlan For Women

SelectPlan For Women is a program supported by Pennsylvania’s Department of Public Welfare that fully subsidizes services related to women’s health. It’s only available to low-income individuals and, once you sign up, they’ll let you choose from a selection of participating medical professionals for your appointments. Everything is free, and the program covers expenses like:

  • Birth control
  • Breast exams
  • Pap smears
  • Family planning

For women in Pittsburgh, SelectPlan works with Adagio Health, a clinic offering quality healthcare to women throughout Pennsylvania. Adagio has 17  locations in the city and you can find a list here.

Healthy Beginnings

Healthy Beginnings is another program funded by Pennsylvania’s State government. Its mission is to provide health coverage specifically to uninsured or underinsured pregnant women and their children. It can also help pregnant teens, under the age of 18, whose families are low-income.

Healthy Beginnings doesn’t have a physical location; it’s just a way of getting insurance when you need it. Coverage can start as soon as you find out that you’re pregnant, so ask your doctor about applying.

You can learn more about Healthy Beginnings here.

Getting Help When You Need It

Pittsburgh’s unemployment rate is far below the national average, and African American families are far and way the most affected. Many families now live in “food deserts,” where healthy food choices simply aren’t available. Proper nutrition affects everyone in our community, adults, pregnant women, and children alike. And while America’s infant mortality rate is one of the world’s lowest, among African American families living in Pittsburgh the rate is more than triple the national average. Nutrition plays a big part in this problem.

We’re going to end this guide by pointing out a really special program that helps women in Pennsylvania every day. It’s the Allegheny County Health Department’s Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) Program.

The WIC helps low-income pregnant women by offering nutritional counseling and vouchers that can be exchanged for healthy foods at participating retailers. They can provide special guidance on which foods you should eat while your pregnant, and help you get them into your pantry.

You can also get help from Healthy Start, a federally-financed non-profit whose sole mission is to eliminate infant mortality. They offer prenatal care, nutritional counseling, and many other services.