My wife and I recently spent four nights in the OB Department at SMCH for the birth of our first child. Of those four nights, our first full day of labor was one of the longest and most challenging days of our stay. Fortunately for us, Sara was one of our main nurses during that hard period. Sara not only provided the first-hand perspective to my wife from her experiences as a mother, more importantly, she was able to connect with my wife and was focused on providing the best experience for us following our wishes. She showed great compassion and concern and it seemed like she was our hired doula and close friend as well as our competent and knowledgeable nurse.
Like a great coach, she was able to keep my wife focused on her goals that she had previously set while also challenging her in ways that kept her determined and able to push beyond what she thought she could handle. Sara was able to do this continuously over her long shift, supporting and guiding us the entire time, hardly taking any breaks for herself. Often times she was soft-spoken and calm, other times she was more firm, but regardless of the tone in which she spoke, we never questioned her abilities as a nurse nor as a leader. What made Sara's effort even more impressive was that the leadership and guidance she was showing my wife during her labor, she was giving the same to another nurse whom she was training that day.
Due to the recommendation for an induction, my wife and son were monitored continuously the entire labor and delivery. We joked how we need to invent new external monitor belts as it is not easy to continuously monitor a baby's heartbeat and contractions on a round pregnant belly with flat monitors when a mother is in active labor and wants to move around as well as the baby moving to different positions often! This led Sara, and the amazing team of nurses who helped out, needing to physically move, squat, and crouch along with my wife while literally holding the monitors in place to make sure baby was responding well. This, of course, was done with no complaints and with great compassion and concern even though I'm sure that's the last thing most would want to do throughout a long shift and was definitely not something that was convenient or easy for the nurses! At the end of our stay not only did we welcome our first healthy baby to our family, but also, we were blessed with watching and learning from Sara, an amazing nurse clearly doing what she loves. The care and concern we were shown during our stay will be cherished and not taken for granted.
My wife and I have both gained so much admiration for the OB nurses and team at SMCH. Our entire birthing experience did not go as planned as labor is many times very unpredictable; however, we are confident that we could not have had better care elsewhere and are so grateful for Sara's exceptional nursing skills and compassion displayed that made our experience unforgettable!