Walking through the doors of a free pregnancy center for the first time can feel like a big step. Many women drive past more than once before coming in, circle the block, or sit in the parking lot working up the courage to walk inside. That kind of hesitation is completely normal. No one is going to judge you for needing a moment, or a few days, before you feel ready.
This post is a plain rundown of what a first visit to Heart Choices generally involves, from check-in to walking back out the door.
You Don’t Need an Appointment
Our centers in Beloit, Concordia, Osborne, and Smith Center are all walk-in friendly. No paperwork mailed to your house beforehand, no insurance card needed, no questions about income. All of our locations work the same way on this.
At check-in, there’s a short intake form covering the basics, name, age, date of last period, that kind of thing. It only takes a few minutes, sometimes less if you already have your dates in mind.
What Actually Happens During the Visit
After intake, the visit moves to a one-on-one conversation with a client counselor. The conversation typically starts wherever the client is, a missed period, a positive home test, sometimes just a feeling that something’s off and wanting to confirm one way or the other.
For anyone needing a pregnancy test, we use lab-quality urine tests, the same type used in doctor’s offices. Results come back within minutes. A positive result opens the door to a limited obstetrical ultrasound at no cost. Kansas women sometimes drive a surprising distance to access a free pregnancy test and ultrasound like this. A licensed registered nurse performs every ultrasound at Heart Choices. The scan confirms whether the pregnancy is viable, screens for ectopic pregnancy (an embryo that has implanted outside the uterus, which is a medical emergency), and establishes how far along the pregnancy is.
Something a lot of women don’t realize before coming in: roughly 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, most before week 12. An ultrasound provides clarity on whether a pregnancy is actually progressing, which matters no matter what someone is thinking about doing next.
The Options Conversation Isn’t What People Expect
The options counseling portion of the visit is the part that tends to generate the most nervousness ahead of time. People assume they’re walking into a lecture.
In practice, a client counselor goes over parenting, adoption, and abortion as the three pregnancy options, providing factual information on each. Questions about adoption get connected to local referral resources. Questions about abortion procedures and what they involve get addressed directly. The conversation moves at whatever pace feels right. Women regularly walk in leaning one direction and leave still leaning that direction, just knowing more about what each path actually involves, including cost, timelines, and what recovery looks like for the different abortion procedures depending on gestational age.
Stuff Nobody Thinks to Ask About
Some of the services that catch people off guard are the ones that kick in after the initial visit. The Earn While You Learn program lets clients complete parenting education modules and earn baby supplies, diapers, car seats, clothing, that sort of thing. The sessions also just become a regular reason to come in, which in a rural area where things can feel pretty isolated, ends up mattering in ways that are hard to quantify.
There’s a fatherhood program too. Partners, boyfriends, husbands, whoever the dad is can access dedicated support. The nearest large city from most of our locations is over an hour’s drive, so local programming like this fills a gap that would otherwise just stay empty.
Reproductive grief is the other thing worth mentioning. For anyone carrying grief from a previous pregnancy loss or a past abortion, reproductive grief counseling is available as its own separate service, open to anyone regardless of whether they’re currently pregnant.
How Long Should I Plan For?
A first visit typically runs 45 minutes to an hour, though plenty are shorter, it depends on what services are needed and how much someone wants to talk through. Friends, partners, and family members are welcome to come along. There’s a whole page on our site for friends who want to know how to be helpful during this time, if that’s worth passing along.
Come In or Call — Either Works
Heart Choices operates as a free pregnancy resource center with four locations across North Central Kansas, and families can access free pregnancy counseling during regular hours:
- Beloit: (785) 738-3433, 602 W 6th St., Beloit, KS 67420 — Tuesday through Friday, 10am–12pm and 1pm–5pm
- Osborne: (785) 345-3315, 117 N 1st Street, Osborne, KS 67473 — Tuesday and Thursday, 10am–12pm and 1pm–5pm
- Concordia: 785-262-4502, 824 N. Washington, Concordia, KS 66901 — Tuesday, 10am–12pm and 1pm–5pm
- Smith Center: (785) 686-3048, 120 W Kansas St., Smith Center, KS 66967 — Tuesday through Thursday, 10am–12pm and 1pm–5pm
If you’re looking for a pregnancy resource center in this part of Kansas, those are the four options, all offering the same services. Calling ahead with a couple of questions before walking in is what most people do, and there’s a contact form on our site as well for anyone who’d rather not pick up the phone.