Mary Ortiz, BSN, RN

I was admitted to Womack to have my baby. Mary greeted me in my room at around 8 AM. She was very kind and sweet and made me feel at ease instantly. I am a first-time mother, so everything I was about to go through was completely unknown, and I was beyond nervous. She could sense I was nervous and had me talk out everything. She held my hand during my epidural and talked me through very painful contractions until the epidural was in full effect. After that, we discussed my birth plan, and I was very adamant about keeping the delivery vaginal and not a C-section.

As time went on during my labor, we ran into some complications, and other nurses began to hint at the fact that I needed a C-section. Mary was very good at advocating for me when my voice was not being heard, and she was following my wishes while also keeping me level-headed. My delivery got more complicated, and she became my voice when I lost mine. Once my delivery was over, she stayed by my side until I had come to more. We had previously discussed what meal I was going to eat after birth, and when I told her Chick-fil-A, she told me about this parfait I had to order.

The next morning, while I was on the mother-baby unit, Mary surprised me with a parfait and checked on my son and me. I really could not have made it through my birth without her, and I am forever thankful for her. She deserves all the cookie parfaits!!