![Pregnancy Resource Center Clinic Manager will teach volunteers how to use the center's new ultrasound machine the Knights of Columbus Milton Council 7027 donated. [AARON LITTLE | Press Gazette]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-4ac9930b-070b-6182-e053-0100007fe93d-13fd20e3-scaled.jpeg)
MILTON — Pregnant women seeking help from Milton’s Pregnancy Resource Center now can receive a free ultrasound, a goal the organization had for six years, according to Client Services Director Patsy Catone.
The Knights of Columbus donated the money — roughly $14,000 from council 7027 and a matching amount from the national Knights of Columbus — to purchase the machine, according to Grand Knight Cesar Mascardo.
Ultrasound machines help examine soft-tissue problems. For pregnancy, the first screening acts as a starting marker for determining the baby’s size and health, according to Pregnancy Resource Center Clinic Manager Leslie Krahn.
The center uses the machine to discourage pregnant women from having an abortion by letting the mother see the fetus’ form on the screen and hear the heartbeat.
“A lot of times, that’s all it takes,” Krahn said. “It’s a tool to connect the baby to the mom.”
The center offers support to the family, in most cases, up to two years after the baby’s birth, according to Client Services Director Patsy Catone.
Krahn has been with the Pregnancy Resource Center of Milton for almost four months but has given ultrasounds for 25 years, she said.
She will train the center’s volunteers to give ultrasounds. Each volunteer technician must perform 50 screenings, she said.
To train these volunteers, the center needs pregnant women for practice screenings. Models can visit the 5736 Stewart St. headquarters for a free ultrasound until the volunteers meet their quota, according to Catone. Call 983-2730 for more details.
The Pregnancy Resource Center still wants to provide mobile services, according to Catone.
The organization began raising funds last year for a mobile unit it wishes to purchase by 2018, the Gazette reported in November.
“A lot of girls who would like to come to us, who need to come to us, can't," Executive Director Cynthia Roberts said back then.
“So we are going to take our services out to them.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pregnancy Resource Center now offers free ultrasounds