If you’re a pregnant woman who will be having her baby in Abbotsford or Chilliwack hospitals this fall, you’re in high demand by UCFV nursing students.

Volunteer mums and their partners are urgently needed to help educate a nursing student while receiving extra support during their pregnancy and labour.

Mothers-to-be who will be having their babies in the Fraser Valley this fall are once again invited to help a UCFV nursing student learn about pregnancy and childbirth from the patient’s perspective. Women having their babies at MSA or Chilliwack hospitals are eligible for this program.

More than 120 students have had the opportunity to "shadow" a pregnant woman through doctor visits, prenatal classes, labour and delivery, and the postnatal period through the Mums-to-be program over the past decade.

"It’s been a wonderful opportunity for our students. It gives them a chance to experience the pregnancy and birth process up close from the perspective of the mother and her family," comments program coordinator Joanna Hirnschall, of UCFV’s Nursing department.

The students complete this component of the program before they study the theory of maternity nursing and before they take "clinical" training in maternity wards.

Women who are due between September and December and who will be having their babies at Chilliwack or MSA hospitals are eligible to participate in the Mums-to-be program. If you agree to participate, the student nurse will meet you (and your partner if applicable) for a "get to know you chat", come with you on one visit to the doctor, come with you to one prenatal class, give you and your partner support during all of your labour and delivery, and visit you afterwards.

For more information, or to volunteer, call UCFV’s Joanna Hirnschall at 604-795-2833, or 504-7441, local 2833, and leave a message.

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