After being on the labor and delivery floor for almost ten hours with wonderful care, a shift change brought us an absolute blessing in the form of a nurse, Kate. We were lucky enough to be Kate’s only patients throughout her 12-hour night shift, and she guided me through the most difficult phases of labor with the care, kindness, support, and joy I could have ever asked for.

When I mentioned that my only wish during my birthing experience was to spend time laboring in water, Kate gently let us know that the room we were in had a broken tub, but that she would figure it out— and figure it out she did. Over the next two hours, she made it her mission to fulfill my wish. She worked hard to secure us a new room, and when we finally moved rooms, we sadly discovered that that tub also wasn’t turning on…but Kate didn’t give up! She found a third empty room, on quite a busy night, and moved us there. Her and my husband worked together to set up the most dreamy bath experience for me to labor in and it was everything I was hoping for and more.

Beyond tub hunting, Kate consistently demonstrated an excellent approach in everything she did. For example, when I casually mentioned the baby was “sunny side up” upon my arrival, Kate proceeded to offer me options for strategies to try to get the baby to rotate. She showed her skills as a team player when she brought in her colleague, an expert on the matter, and they worked together to position my body to support the baby's rotation, which worked!

She encouraged me and made me feel so strong when I faced contractors naturally with no epidural, and equally supported me when I asked for pain relief and got the epidural. I watched her tuck my sleeping husband in on the couch with a blanket in the middle of the night. She rubbed my back when I vomited. She connected with us on a personal level. She made my entire laboring experience absolutely remarkable, and both my husband and I couldn't have asked for anything more. I delivered our beautiful baby girl two short hours after Kate's shift ended, and I entered that phase of labor with such a sense of calm, confidence, and peace, which I credit largely to Kate's incredible support during that night. She deserves all the recognition in the world for her work as a nurse. It is rare that you meet people who are doing exactly what they are meant to do, and Kate is one of those people as a labor and delivery nurse. We can't thank her enough!