“The antenatal checks gave me the opportunity to spend one on one time with the mother, doing education and really getting to know them — I enjoyed that and I’m really thankful I got to do it.” Amber, Maternity Nurse, USA
American maternity nurse Amber Dietrich originally came to Papua New Guinea on a land medical team as a part of YWAM’s Discipleship Training School. The diverse country grabbed her heart immediately. “I fell in love with PNG. The first week I was here, I was like ‘I can’t imagine not coming back.’”
A year later, she flew back to Papua New Guinea, but this time she came aboard YWAM’s medical ship. As a maternity nurse, she worked side-by-side with a Papua New Guinean midwife to provide antenatal services to expectant mothers in the villages. Both providers loved the special moment when the clinic’s doppler ultrasound filled the room with the sound of the baby’s heartbeat.
For many of the mothers, it was the first time they had heard their child’s heartbeat, and wide smiles spread across their faces.
Amber treasured her time working with the mothers, particularly within the remotest regions of Papua New Guinea. “The moms may never see another provider throughout their pregnancy and delivery…so we would think ‘what can we teach them to make them a little more prepared?’” she said.
Applications are now open for midwives and maternity nurses in 2019, visit www.ywamships.org/volunteer/ for dates and information.
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