Personal Narrative: My Experience With Homelessness

Experience: On my (Alina) first day of volunteering at St. Francis House, I sorted baby clothes in the children’s room. As I was sorting clothes, I began to contemplate what it must be like to have a newborn and experience poverty. Furthermore, I was working in a community clinic during my obstetric clinical. I had the opportunity to have first hand experience with low income pregnant women. I was overwhelmed by the barriers and suffering these women were experiencing during their pregnancy. The women I provided care for experienced homelessness, addiction, poverty, and domestic violence. This experience sparked my interest in learning more about the homeless and pregnant population, it drove me to uncover the problems these women faced, and …show more content…
The latest annual homeless count in Seattle which is determined by the “one night count,” has shown an increase from the previous year and in the latest 2016 one night count it was estimated nearly 4,505 were without a shelter. Homelessness unfortunately comes along with a variety of negative connotations and assumptions. Prior to this quarter we had our own preconceived notions and judgments of what we thought “homelessness,” to be. Turns out we were wrong and learned quickly each and everyone has their own reasons and stories that led them to where they are. Unfortunately, too many of these reasons were out of the hands of the individuals themselves. Being homeless increasingly predisposes these individuals to some staggering risks. For example, “homeless young women are almost five times more likely to become pregnant and far more likely to experience multiple pregnancies than housed young women.” Through our service learning this quarter, as well as our nursing clinical experience, we have been fortunate enough to see first hand how homelessness can affect pregnancy. These realizations lead us to the deep concern on how the oppression of the pregnant homeless population not only can have a negative impact on the women but who she is about to bring into the …show more content…
Many homeless women feel discouraged to receive care from the stigma put on them from medical providers. Though it may be unintentional, it can leave a lasting impact on these women. These women also lack continuity of care because of the numerous resources and or clinics they may have to use to find care. This lack of continuous care can lead to poor patient outcomes when a relationship between a provider and patient is absent and care becomes uncoordinated. Another barrier many homeless women have is fear, they fear that the staff will alert agencies and have their child taken from them. These obstacles, along with the stress of the pregnancy itself, can lead these women to not receive adequate medical care. Unfortunately, this puts them at an increased risk for negative health outcomes, “Lack of access to health care is a profound issue for the homeless population, with 73% of homeless individuals reporting at least one unmet health need, including medical, surgical, mental health, vision, or dental care or unmet prescription needs. As a result, homeless women lack preventive care such as prenatal care, mammograms, and Pap tests compared with women who are