I easily remember the first client I supported on my own at the pregnancy resource center. I was sweating and my heart was racing. I worried I might say the wrong thing and forget all I had learned while training.
Once in the counseling room with Dana*, I was astonished to discover what other pregnancy center staff had shared was true. Matthew 10:19 and Luke 12:11-12 came to mind as I experienced the Holy Spirit aiding me when I didn’t have the words to say. Dedicated training and preparation came together as God brought to mind appropriate open-ended questions and words of encouragement.
Dana shared that she didn’t want an abortion but felt trapped by her circumstances and lacked emotional support. I was surprised to observe that I seemed to help more by listening compassionately than by talking. God gave me wisdom to look past the unwanted pregnancy and see a young woman who was hurting and alone. I felt like I knew her. Although we came from different backgrounds, we were both women who understood the pressures of cultural expectations. Under different circumstances, I could easily be in a similar situation with an unplanned pregnancy.
Before Dana left, I offered information about additional support she could receive at no cost from our clinic during and after her pregnancy. I also mentioned community resources we could refer her to for housing, financial assistance, finding a job, birthing classes, and adoption. I encouraged Dana to take time in making her decision. I also told her that if she decided to terminate her pregnancy, she could return any time to speak with me or another client advocate. Teary-eyed, she smiled and said she had already made her decision—she wanted to carry her baby to term.
Nearly a year later, a client walked through the pregnancy center doors. In the young woman's arms was a precious baby girl. The woman asked me if I recognized her. At first I didn’t; it took me a few seconds to realize it was Dana. Motherhood had changed her. Her eyes sparkled with the joy (and exhaustion!) of a new mom. She handed me her baby, and as I held the little girl in my arms, I thought back to that day in the counseling room. I thanked God for giving me the courage to go outside of my comfort zone, use the training I had received, and for the work God had done through it all.
Emily Kerber, BSN, RN, worked at the Compassion Pregnancy Clinic in Monterey, California, and in acute care pediatrics and mother-baby when she wrote the article from which this post is excerpted.
“What I Learned Working in a Pregnancy Resource Center” first appeared in the Journal of Christian Nursing, issue 32(2) in 2015.
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