My Life as a Pregnancy Care Center Volunteer

My volunteer days at PCC are always the highlight of my week. Our shift always begins with prayer and praise for all the things that we may encounter that day in our center. The prayer time is a great help to get me from work-mode or mom-mode to thinking of bigger things. We don’t know what kinds of situations will come thru the door at any given time.

I attended the Institute in Limited Obstetrical Ultrasound for Nurses training in Fredericksburg VA, in September. It was a comprehensive and fast-paced introduction in limited ultrasound where we spent two days in the classroom and one day in clinic getting hands-on experience. Once I complete 60-75 supervised scans, I’ll be certified to perform all the ultrasound scans at our center.

We began doing ultrasound scans at the Jackson County Center in March of 2009 and do them once a month. I usually meet with the client before she gets the ultrasound to get the consent forms signed and take a short medical history. Then, we go into the ultrasound room where Linda Long, the PCC’s Nurse Manager, assists me in doing the scans.

I love to watch the faces of the girls as they finally see the life within them. Their mothers and significant others are usually with them also and you can just see their faces light up when they recognize the outline of the baby. They get especially excited if the baby kicks while we are watching. Our ultrasound is normally the first time they have seen their baby and thus for many of them is the moment this pregnancy is “real” to them. The positive test is hard for them to come to terms with frequently, but to see the baby is the moment reality sets in. Even in the worst of circumstances that a client may be in, the miracle of life, at the moment they see that tiny baby, gives them hope. Our machine also has the capability to let them hear the heart beat and they love that. They so frequently have denied that there is a beating heart in there because society has led them to believe its “just tissue”. The ultrasound is invaluable in our ministry. It’s always great to hear girls say they wouldn’t have their baby if it wasn’t for Pregnancy Care Center or just for them to come by to show us their baby.

I also enjoy teaching and getting to know our clients. It’s nice to take someone back to a counseling room, help them to relax and allow them to share their problem or concern. They may have never have had someone offer to pray for them in their entire life and they are touched. Many of our clients have no one they feel like they can trust or anyone who really cares to listen to them. They feel guilty and unworthy of help and don’t even believe restoration is possible. So many of our clients feel hopeless when they come in, so when we’re able to help them gain a new perspective on their situation, maybe give them material assistance like diapers and formula to help relieve some of their burden, and then finally to pray for them, it is amazing. They frequently tear up and just say “Thank you so much” for listening.

Connie Adams