Maria was the nurse who helped me labor over 19 hours with my first child. She was in the room the moment any monitor went off, dislodged, or had an odd reading. She checked on me regularly throughout my unmedicated labor, encouraging me and giving advice where she could.

When it got to the point of no longer being able to stand the pain and asking for an epidural she never once made me feel bad for asking for pain relief, but held my entire shaking body as I received it. As she continued to check on me, we quickly realized that the epidural had failed and Maria took my pain seriously, never once questioning my pain levels. During the second epidural, I started to vomit due to the drop in blood pressure and she was the only one to realize, making sure I was safe, breathing, and not making a mess on myself. Again, she held my hand as I received the second one and held me steady for the anesthesiologist.

She coached me through pushing, holding my legs, and assured me that I did not poop everywhere like I was scared of. I pushed for almost 3 hours while she held my legs and walked me through pushing and breathing. After all that, I ended up not being able to deliver naturally and required an emergency C-section. Maria saw how exhausted and heartbroken I was and sat with me, telling me her own c-section story. She made me feel safe, and comfortable and went above and beyond.

Maria was incredibly patient and kind with me, as I left out some gritty details about how terrible of a patient I was. She made my birthing experience something I don’t look back on in fear or sadness but with pride. I don’t often like people who check my cervix but she is the exception, even when inserting two hands inside of me to try to pull my baby out. Due to her constant vigilance, my girl was born safe and healthy that night. She even came to visit me in recovery to continue her kindness and encouragement. A strange woman became my absolute rock and hero in the span of just a few hours.