by Sr. Keresifon Ekanem MMM                               Nigeria                            16.10.2024

Oh dear! I felt frustrated when I received the news that the supervision team from the Ministry of Health (MOH) to our Facility had asked me to stop practicing as a Nurse/Midwife in my first country of mission for some reasons about country policy. So, I won’t meet the pregnant women again, and will stop catching babies? I will really miss this!

Not to worry, a thought flashed into my mind, “You will meet them when they come for antenatal care and the mothers when they come for immunization.” Great! I will have more time now to give health talk to them. I will also go for more sensitization and outreach in the neighboring villages as well as do other tasks. Sure, I did!

Meanwhile, there was a need for a sonographer in our Ministry and a suggestion to delve into this field emerged. I grabbed it. Thanks to my community members, and leaders who recommended and approved it. The experience was great, and I am excited with this new skill. The fear of studying in a foreign language and the struggle was soon forgotten.

Remember my initial feeling? Frustration! What followed that was really fantastic! I met more pregnant women on daily basis and was in contact with babies even from their different stages of development in the womb. A very interesting experience! This experience reveals at every moment the awesomeness of God in His work which is beyond human comprehension. God is great, worthy of our praise and reverence. I feel excited about my new knowledge, and I am passionate about my work as I put this skill into use. It offers me an opportunity to still give full attention to mothers and children and care for them. This happens each day as I attend to mothers to check for the movements, heartbeats, sex, presentation, and the general well-being of their fetuses in the womb.

I see a deep connection it has with the dream of Mother Mary Martin, our Foundress, whose primary aim of founding the Congregation is the “Care for Mother and Child.” Meanwhile, it also offers an opportunity to share a message of hope and bring Christ to those whose reports do not meet their expectations. These expectations range from non-existence of pregnancy for those who assume they are pregnant, loss of a pregnancy (miscarriage), or not having the desired sex of their fetus. Rendering my services to these women is healing both to themselves and to their spouses who when they learn of the care and attention they receive also long to come and most importantly for them to see how their fetuses (babies) are doing in the womb. This gives them so much joy! Nevertheless, I now have the opportunity to use all my skills in my new mission and it is very valuable!

Really, “A blessing in disguise it was!”