A National Survey of Pregnancy Options Counselors

Post- Roe Considerations for Social Work Education

Bibliographic Data

ID21619291
AuthorsJennifer C Hollenberger (0000-0003-0679-2486, corresponding author), Elissa E Madden (0000-0002-8375-6588)
Year2025
Volume61
Issue2
Pages210-224
Publication date2025-04-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social Work Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1043-7797 • E-ISSN: 2163-5811
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10437797.2025.2455723
OpenAlexW4408407511
LanguageEN
References cited30

The purpose of this national survey was to understand how providers in adoption agencies, pregnancy resource centers, and health and social service organizations provide pregnancy options counseling services to women experiencing an unintended pregnancy. Using Qualtrics, an online survey was administered to 739 individuals at organizations in all 50 United States. Descriptive analysis reported pregnancy options counselors were well-educated, with more than 80% having a bachelor’s degree or higher. More than one-third (35%) of respondents had a Bachelor of Social Work or Master of Social Work degree. When comparing across setting types, there was a difference in how counselors were educated and trained to provide pregnancy options counseling services. Using a one-way analysis of variance, there were significant differences in counselors’ perceived competency to provide pregnancy options counseling and their knowledge, values, and skills of pregnancy options counseling. Pregnancy options counseling is a vital intervention. More research is needed to develop a standard protocol, which will aid in the education and preparation of pregnancy options counselors across setting types

Medical education · Political science · Engineering · Law · Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions · Medicine · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Social Work

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