Last week I received an e-mail from my care providers at the South Community Birth Program asking if I would be interested in participating in the Hands-On Maternity Night at the UBC Medical Student Building. The evening is an opportunity for Med, Nursing, and Midwifery students (most first or second year) to gain hands-on experience for caring for pregnant women. I didn't know what to expect, but seeing as how I do not want any students in L&D with me, I figured this would be a good way of volunteering my belly while helping students learn. What a great event!

Because there were only three pregnant women (there was supposed to be six), we ended up being examined by about nine groups of six students throughout the evening. Basically, I lay on the table while the care provider explained how women who participate in the SCBP are fully involved in their own charting by measuring our own weight, recording our own blood pressure, and testing our urine. She then demonstrated how to calculate fundal height, how to use the Doppler to listen for the baby's heartbeat, and how to palpate the belly (we call them "belly checks") to figure out the position of the baby.

Having almost 50 pairs of hands on my belly was not as horrible as it sounds! All the students were genuinely grateful and so polite. For many of them, it was the first time they had the opportunity to actually palpate a tiny bum in a woman's stomach or see a little foot roll across a stomach. The students had many questions, but they mostly wanted to know what it feels like to have a tiny body in one's stomach and whether it hurt when they touched me! I reassured them that I would definitely make them aware if they were hurting me.

By the end of the evening, I learned that the baby has dropped into my pelvis, has a perfect, healthy heartbeat, and is very tolerant of pokes and prods!

To top it all off, we were to be rewarded with a $100 honourarium for volunteering. However, because only three of us participated, we each received $200 with the instruction to only use the money for something for ourselves, no baby stuff!