Economy delaying births?

With a baby and a 6-year-old, Sara Sheeder has her hands full.

Having another child is not in her plans, especially since tips at her waitressing job dipped with the economy.

“I just don't make enough money to support any more kids,” said Sheeder, 27, of Cedar Rapids, a student in Kirkwood Community College's nursing program.

Sheeder, who uses a long-acting birth control and wants to graduate and stabilize her finances before considering a larger family, isn't the only one putting pregnancy on hold.

A Guttmacher Institute report showed nearly half of women surveyed said they want to delay pregnancy, while 64 percent said they couldn't afford to have a baby because of the economy.

Local and state birth statistics don't show a definite trend, but some say the recession has had an effect on family planning.

“There is no doubt that the economy is directly affecting the women in our community,” said Jenifer Vick, development and communications director for Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa in Cedar Rapids.

Vick said an increasing number of patients report losing health insurance coverage because of job loss and they need help continuing their birth control to prevent pregnancy.

She pointed to the following:

• Before November 2008, Planned Parenthood enrolled an average of five to six women each week in the Iowa Family Planning Network, a program that provides free birth control and other prevention services for low-income women. Now, five to six women enroll in the program daily.

• Planned Parenthood is receiving 10 to 20 calls per day from women asking for help continuing their contraceptive use, many saying they or their spouse lost their job and insurance.

• More women who had been patients with insurance are asking about programs for the uninsured.

Vick said nongeneric birth control pills can cost $50 to $90 per month without insurance and Depo Provera birth control shots run $80 to $100.

Francine Thompson, health services director for the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City, said abortion numbers are dropping at the clinic, as they are nationwide.

Thompson had not heard women say they are delaying pregnancy because of the economy, but said the recession definitely has had an effect. “We are seeing more women in need of financial assistance for whatever service they're seeking at the clinic,” she said.

Nationwide, most consider the current recession to have started in late 2007. Iowa started seeing layoffs in mid-2008.

Stephanie Trusty, maternal health consultant for the state's Bureau of Family Health, said total births in Iowa have risen in recent years. She didn't foresee that changing.

“I haven't heard from any of the big birthing centers that the numbers have fallen off,” she said.

In Cedar Rapids, St. Luke's Hospital reported 2,683 births in 2007; 2,715 in 2008 and 2,371 so far this year, as of mid-November.

Mercy Medical Center reported 839 births in 2007, 816 in 2008 and 726 so far this year. Mercy was closed about 10 days last year during the flood.

Mercy Iowa City had a rise in births, from 1,163 in 2007 to 1,230 in 2008 and 920 so far this year.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City had 1,808 births in 2007; 1,811 in 2008 and 619 as of Oct. 31.