Sidelines is a non-profit organization providing international support for women and their families experiencing complicated pregnancies and premature births.
We believe that families can cope more successfully with a high-risk pregnancy with appropriate medical intervention, education, and a strong support system...
If I could tell you just one thing, it would be this: "Become actively involved in your care". This means learning all you can about your own high-risk condition...ask questions and if you don't understand the answers, keep asking...find out what options are available and what the consequences are of each one...participate in decisions being made about your care. You may feel that right now you have no control over all the things that are happening to you and when you feel powerless, you feel scared, angry, depressed. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, and it will give you back some of the control you've lost.
Our experience convinces us that there are a tremendous number of extraordinary physicians out there who go the extra mile to educate and inform their high-risk patients. Choose a physician who considers you a partner in the process of treating a high-risk pregnancy. You should not have to settle for less. Feel comfortable in seeking another opinion, or if need be, another physician. (You wouldn't let a mechanic you don't have confidence in work on your car, right? Remember, it's your body, your baby.)
Candace Hurley, Executive Director