Having Christa as my L&D RN was a complete blessing to me and my family. She is someone my husband and I will never forget and will make sure that my son remembers her in his prayers. As a new mother experiencing the adventure of labor and soon to deliver, Christa was comforting, very knowledgeable/interactive and so personable that I felt that I was someone special to her, not just another woman in labor. She explained everything so that I felt informed and in control as much as I could be. She made me and my husband (and all of the rest of my family that visited me while I was there) feel at ease.
My delivery took a quick turn for the worse and because of how Christa handled everything, it never crossed my mind until everything was done, how close I was to not having my son. After several hours of labor, my son's heart rate plummeted, Christa was quick to react and calmly explained what she was monitoring, what was wrong and what she would like me to do to try and help him get his rate back up. She was quick and efficient and never once showed the stress that she was going through. She was assertive with getting her team in and explaining to the resident MD in an informative but not frightening manner. She was the only voice that I honed in on and assured me that I was ok and so was my son. They had me try several solutions; oxygen, flipping flopping every which way on the bed, trying a shot of adrenalin, my son's heart rate still did not improve. I ended up having an emergency C-section, within 7 minutes of leaving my L&D room, my son was being carted off to NICU. His heart rate dropped down to 30 bpm and needed assistance to revive.
He was a strong baby and quickly excelled in getting out of the NICU and is perfectly healthy to this day. The following day after our delivery, Christa came by my MBU room and checked in on me and my family. She tried to explain what they think had happened since it was not clear as to what caused this event. (They assume that his umbilical cord was pinched behind his ear to where they were not able to feel or adjust it and causing a Stage 3 Fetal Heart Distress.
Christa had mentioned that had been one of the scariest events she's experienced in her RN career and was constantly praising her team. She stated that this was why she was proud to be a part of such a wonderful place of employment because they worked so unified that everyone knew what to do without having being directed. She never once accepted our praises for her own, she said that it was all her team's doing. I can definitely agree with her that a big part of the success was her team; however, without Christa I can only imagine how it could've gone and I am glad I can only imagine. It's been months since this had happened and I am thankful each and every day that I had Christa.
We wish to commend her for not only saving my son's life but her passion for her profession, her teamwork, the astonishing representation to Providence but also being a perfect example of each Core Value.