August 2023
Michelle
Myers
,
BSN, RN
Maternity- T4
WellSpan York Hospital
York
,
PA
United States
Michelle's kindness and compassionate attitude helped the family understand that they would be okay, and that their baby girl could thrive.
I would like to nominate Michelle Myers for the DAISY Award. Today, a baby was born with a cleft palate. This was not known prior to birth, despite adequate prenatal care. The mom explained that she had a family history of cleft palate. Michelle was the RN caring for this mother. She attempted to breastfeed, but was unable to get the infant to latch. Michelle helped this mother by teaching her hand expression of her colostrum. That is when I walked into the labor and delivery room. I am a NICU lactation consultant and bedside RN. To see Michelle teaching this mother how to hand express her liquid gold colostrum was amazing! I taught the baby's father how to finger feed the colostrum with a syringe. Later, I saw the mother in her room on maternity. She continued to hand express her liquid gold every 3 hours. We finger fed the baby with syringes of her liquid gold. This may not seem like a big deal to most people, however, for this family it was awesome! Teaching this family how to hand express the colostrum to feed their baby with a cleft palate probably helped the baby avoid a NICU admission. Even more importantly, this helped the parents bond with their baby and learn to care for her with her disability. The parents were overwhelmed with the thought of caring for their baby girl with a cleft palate. Michelle's kindness and compassionate attitude helped the family understand that they would be okay, and that their baby girl could thrive. Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your love, compassion, and expertise to help this family cope. You are amazing, and I am proud to work with you.