FORUM Sexualaufklärung und Familienplanung, Heft 2-2013: Pregnancy Advice, english version

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The right of every woman and every man to receive advice regarding sexuality education, contraception, family planning and pregnancy, as guaranteed by Germany’s Pregnancy Conflict Law [Schwangerschafts -konfliktgesetz], puts great demands on pregnancy advice services. Developments such as prenatal and pre-implantation diagnostics as well as changes to the law, such as the Federal Child Protection Law [Bundes -kinderschutzgesetz] or the Law on Confidential Births [Gesetz zur Vertraulichen Geburt] require an ongoing openness to learning and the acquisition of up-to-date knowledge in very different areas of expertise.

utta Prolingheuer and Ursula Kunz, two pregnancy conflict counsellors at the Diakonisches Werk Karlsruhe, provide an overview of the competencies that advisors must have or acquire and introduce the broad spectrum of services offered by advice centres.

Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Kristina Schröder, explains the law governing confidential births, which came into effect on 1 May 2014. After that date, pregnancy advice centres took on a key role in implementing “confidential births” by participating in the organization.

The Bundeskinderschutzgesetz, which came into effect on 1 January 2012, caused three main developments for pregnancy advice centres, which Lydia Schönecker will report on. The key concepts here are the strengthening of the protection of confidence in pregnancy advice (right to anonymous advice), the obligation to participate in the “Frühe Hilfen” networks and the “authority to pass on information in the event that a child’s wellbeing is at risk”.

Claudia Heinkel discusses the demands placed on counselling services with regard to the professionally and ethically tricky area of prenatal and pre-implantation diagnostics; she outlines the situation of the couples in the various phases before, during and after the diagnostic procedure, before deriving the various tasks to be performed by the advice service.

The national foundation “Mutter und Kind - Schutz des ungeborenen Lebens” [“mother and child - protection of unborn life”] has been offering financial help since 1984 to improve the living conditions of mothers-to-be in problem situations. We report on the results of a flanking evaluation.

Further contributions in this issue address the subjects of pregnancy advice and migration, pregnancy advice on the internet, and the inclusion project “I want to get married too!” by donum vitae.