The Students for Life organization at Mississippi State University will host a student-parent baby shower on April 16 for enrolled MSU students who are pregnant.
Students for Life is an organization at MSU that provides services for students who are pregnant.
Anja Scheib, director of Students for Life, said the organization provides services for students who have or have not planned to have children.
“Usually someone comes to us as an undergraduate with an unplanned pregnancy, but it’s also set up for students who are married and are pregnant who are really stressed out about being able to finish school, so we created a resource guide that has referral to the pregnancy center in town, and you can go there and everything is free. The first thing we offer is referral to the center where they can get a lab-quality pregnancy test,” Scheib said.
Scheib said the organization provides many resources for parents on and off campus. 
“We have referral for insurance for your child, places where you can go for WIC, the OB/GYNs here, then there are other options such as a breastfeeding support group, the hospital and the Emerson Family Center,” Scheib said.
“They have parenting classes, support groups if you’re in an abusive relationship, breastfeeding, parenting, safety, etc. and it is all free,” Scheib said. “You can also get free counselors, and if you take the parenting classes you get supplies like diapers, diaper bags, clothes, etc. On campus there are also lactation rooms, and we also recently got an award that included a money prize to buy the school more changing tables.”
Scheib also said the organization provides referrals for students worried about general college life while being pregnant.
“We have references for housing, parenting scholarships. There are a lot of rights that people are not aware they have, even people who worry about losing participation points because they had an ultrasound,” Scheib said. “It is against federal law for them to do that because it is a medical condition that you can’t help. (Professors) have to be able to give you makeup work, and there is also references for adoption and post-abortive resources. You also have excused absences for counseling to help go through the aftermath of that.” 
Scheib said she believes the group is important because it is essential for students who are expecting to be aware of their options.
“All across the country, but especially in Mississippi, we have high unexpected pregnancy rates, and people typically do not know all the resources that are here and people want to drop out, and a lot of times people drop for things that could have been taken care of, had they known their rights. We really need people to know their rights. Pregnancy students are a minority group, and they are not talked about a lot and they have federal rights,” Scheib said.
 Scheib said she believes the group benefits MSU and the community because it educates pregnant students on the resources available and gives them the confidence and knowledge they need to finish school.
“It is shown that parents who have a degree usually end up being able to provide more for their child early in life, and that means that child can go further. That does not mean that a child with parents who do not have a degree cannot succeed, but it certainly helps the odds,”  Scheib said.
Shaquita Woodson, art major at MSU, said she would use the resources that Students for Life offers because it helps pregnant students get the help they need with college.
“If I were pregnant, yes I would use the resources,” Woodson said. “I feel if I’m in need of help with college duties, like housing or financial aid, the Students for Life is an organization that will help me. I think it is very important for MSU to have these resources available for pregnant women.” 
Alexis Jones, cognitive science major at MSU, said she believes organizations such as Students for Life is beneficial to MSU because it helps retain students. 
“Programs such as this would help female students and employees who are pregnant or just had children stay at the university which is beneficial,” Jones said. “Helping students succeed in school means that the university will have more successful alumni which will pay off for them in the long run.” 
The baby shower is for parents of children up to 2 years old from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Colvard Student Union Dawg House on MSU’s campus.