S.F. must help pregnant women get shelter
San Francisco has a largely invisible homeless population — pregnant women. Because of a gap in San Francisco’s emergency housing policy, those women are frequently homeless throughout pregnancy.
More than one woman has given birth on our streets in San Francisco. Other pregnant women are living in tent encampments. Many are sleeping in cars, even doorways.
We are asking the city to change the way it classifies pregnant women so that they can qualify for family shelter in their first trimester.
San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing qualifies pregnant women for family shelter before the third trimester only if they are shown to be medically at risk, with certification. Few qualify.
And qualifying for shelter may still mean a wait of an average of 121 days, which would mean after the baby is born.
Instead, the city says those women can either line up daily for a spot in single adult shelters, sleeping in a large congregate setting, which also have long waits and no specialized care for pregnant women — or they can stay on the streets.
The need is there: For the first four-and-a-half months of 2018, Homeless Prenatal Program has seen 229 pregnant homeless women. In the past two months, Catholic Charities outreach caseworkers at Bayview Access Point saw 25 homeless pregnant women living in their cars, on the streets and in encampments. The Gabriel Project, a Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco outreach to pregnant women, almost solely serves homeless women in San Francisco.
All of those unborn children are at risk if they don’t get care in the first trimester. By the third trimester, the major organs — heart, lungs, brain, etc. — have already been formed. Babies are at risk for developmental delays and other problems that will have negative impacts on their opportunities to thrive and succeed in school and in life.
Babies born to homeless women deserve to be born as healthy as possible. A stable place to rest is a prerequisite for that opportunity.
All homeless pregnant mothers are “high risk” for preterm birth and for miscarriage if they don’t get good care early in pregnancy. A recent study, unsurprisingly, has shown the rates of miscarriage and preterm birth are high among women in these situations. San Francisco State University, the UCSF Preterm Birth Initiative, Benioff Community Innovators and other partners collaborated on a report last year that found a pregnant woman’s health is undermined by housing loss, multiple moves and fear and stress of eviction. In addition, the study found stress damages the health of their babies.
The earlier a pregnant woman gets prenatal care, the healthier her baby will be. Most housed women know this and run to the doctor’s office as soon as they get a positive pregnancy test. Why don’t we insist on the same opportunity for homeless expectant mothers?
Let us take care of homeless pregnant women and their unborn children. They are worth our investment in their lives and their futures.
There is much more to be done, but allowing homeless pregnant women to qualify for the list for family shelter in their first trimester — a simple change to a city agency’s policy — is a good start.