As I was driving into work early in the morning, there was a double rainbow over the hospital. I remember thinking to myself, "I hope that this is a good sign that today will be a good shift." This was my fourth shift in a row, and I was feeling particularly exhausted but eager to have a good day. When I arrived at the unit, I was assigned to a patient that was attempting to labor and deliver vaginally after previously having a c-section.

When I met my patient, she was 8 centimeters dilated and hadn't made much progress through the night. One of my coworkers, Ponnamma Mathai, checked in with me in the morning to see how the progress was going with my patient. Ponnamma came to Christiana as a travel nurse from India. After her contract was over, she decided to apply for a staff nurse position in labor and delivery. Ponnamma was a midwife in Dubai, and she has many years of experience supporting and empowering women through childbirth. The nurses on the unit all joke around, and we say, "If anyone can get their patient to deliver vaginally, it would be Ponnamma!"

During my shift, I was able to witness this firsthand. Around noon, the doctors came to check my patient's cervix, and she hadn't made any progress. It was decided by the care team, the patient, and her husband that the best decision was to proceed with a c-section. The patient so desperately wanted to experience a vaginal birth, and she was devastated by the initial lack of progress that almost led to her having another c-section. Due to scheduled and other non-scheduled cases that were in the operating room at that time, the patient wouldn't be going for her c-section for some time.

At the two-hour mark, I called Ponnamma to check her cervix. Ponnamma told me that my patient was 9 centimeters now and that she felt as though the patient could successfully deliver vaginally. Ponnamma said to me, "We are going to meet this baby before we leave tonight." Ponnamma spoke to the care team and advocated for my patient to have another 4 hours to labor. They agreed, and Ponnamma and I went to work! She was in my patient's room with me every 15 to 30 minutes to change my patient's position. She would check her cervix to determine the baby's position and use her extensive knowledge to direct position changes.

Around 6:30 pm, Ponnamma rechecked my patient, and reported that she was fully dilated! She did some practice pushes in the room with the patient and asked me to call in the providers to set up for delivery! My patient and her husband were elated. Even after practice pushing for about 10 minutes, you could already see a portion of the baby's head! Witnessing the reaction of my patient and her husband when she delivered their son is something I will never forget. They were both crying, and saying, "Thank you! Thank you so much for everything!"

Ponnamma took it upon herself to assist me with my assignment. Not only did she go out of her way to assist me, but more importantly, she advocated for and empowered my patient so that she could achieve her birth goal of having a vaginal delivery. My coworker, Ponnamma Mathai, consistently goes out of her way to share her knowledge with others in the unit. She is often consulted by other nurses for her opinion, and she was even voted by our staff as, "Miss Pitocin Fingers.' All Ponnamma's patients are lucky to have her, and we are lucky to have her as a nurse on our team. She consistently displays exceptional clinical skills, compassion, respect, and partnership.

As Ponnamma was leaving the room after the delivery, the husband wrapped her in his arms and cried into her shoulder while thanking her for all that she had done for his wife. The patient, with a beautiful baby on her chest, had tears in her eyes as she exclaimed, "It's because of you that I did it."