MORE THAN 300 people contacted Cura last year for information on post-abortion counselling.
Cura is a crisis pregnancy support service which is an agency of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
A spokesperson from Cura said that it had 1268 crisis pregnancy counselling contacts in 2013.
It also offers support to parents of new babies after the baby is born. In 2013, it helped 155 parents in this capacity.
The figures are contained in its annual report, which was released just before its recent conference.
The conference included talks by speakers such as Una O’Brien, a clinical midwife working with pregnant teenagers, and Helen Deely, the head of the HSE’s crisis pregnancy programme, which funds Cura.
She told the conference that someone who doesn’t have support during a crisis pregnancy would experience higher levels of depression and stress by the time the child was three years old, compared to a woman who did not have a crisis pregnancy.
Cura had 322 client contacts about post-abortion counselling in 2013, but could not specify what percentage was male or female. This number is consistent with previous years, said the spokesperson.
5831 students participated in Cura’s school’s awareness programme, across 86 schools. This is not a sex education programme, but a talk on the supports Cura offers.
Cura’s helpline is available on 1850 622626.
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