As the ultrasound nurse at A Woman's Touch Pregnancy Counseling Center in Bellevue, Nebraska, I am privileged to see the miracle of life in its earliest stages. I have had many astounding outcomes from my ultrasound patients.

I remember Maggie, age 25, well-dressed, good job, attractive, intelligent – she had it all! Throughout the ultrasound she was certain she could not go through with her pregnancy.

I bonded with her, though, and encouraged her to think long and hard about whether she could support and mother this child. I felt she would have major post-abortion problems if she gave in to the convenient solution.

I invited her to come in again with her boyfriend so that he could see the baby on ultrasound too, and urged her to talk to him and take her time to consider all her options.

For a couple weeks after her visit, I called to follow up and left messages for her to call me back. I felt pretty sure she had aborted. Then one day she returned my call. She said they had decided to "go through with it." My heart sank, but I asked what she was going through with.

"The pregnancy!" she replied. She and her boyfriend came for another ultrasound scan so he could see his child, too. They arrived holding hands; all excited, really euphoric. They had decided to marry and parent this little one together!

A Woman's Touch Pregnancy Counseling Center
Bellevue, NE
Mary Ann Chladek, R.N., Ultrasound Nurse
http://www.awtpcc.org/

All Pregnancy Medical Clinics in the Option Ultrasound Program provide limited obstetrical ultrasound as medically indicated. Clinics are licensed to operate under the supervision of a physician, using only trained sonographers. Focus on the Family does not endorse the use of ultrasound outside of a medical clinic setting and does not endorse the use of ultrasound for non-medical reasons. Patient referrals are made to physicians for follow-up diagnosis and care as needed.