November 2020
Mia
DeTomasi
,
BSN, RN
Banner University Medical Center-Phoenix
Teary-eyed, I told Mia I was anxious and she assuaged my anxiety with a warm smile and kind words. She was always available, very informative and direct, but also with calmness and sweetness that put me at ease.
To understand how critical and wonderful Mia was to my birth story, it is imperative to know how my birth story unfolded. At around 3:00 am, my husband and I went to Banner University Phoenix OBGYN Triage due to my water breaking. I was admitted once it was determined that my water had officially broken, however, I was having no contractions at that time. At around 7 am, I was started on a dose of Pitocin. For nearly 8.5 hours, my Pitocin was increased until a nearly maximum dose, and yet, I had no contractions. I was swollen, exhausted, and stressed. My day nurse was informative and direct, and my resident was kind, but I was overwhelmed and nervous with the lack of progression into labor. Finally, at 4:30 pm, the Pitocin was stopped and I was allowed to eat and rest until the shift change at 7 pm.
This is where Mia comes in. Mia gently woke me (while wearing cat ears for Halloween) from my nap at around 7:15 pm to restart the Pitocin. I was very nervous at this point because the first round of Pitocin was futile and if the second round didn't work, we were looking at an emergency C-section. Teary-eyed, I told her I was anxious and she assuaged my anxiety with a warm smile and kind words. She was always available, very informative and direct, but also with calmness and sweetness that put me at ease. She did whatever she could to make me and my husband feel comfortable and when my husband and doula asked questions or made requests she was open, honest, and beyond helpful. It felt like she truly was on my team.
Around 12 pm at the mid-point dose of Pitocin, Mia checked my cervix and realized that either my bag had regrown or that it never fully ruptured. THIS WAS CRITICAL because earlier in the day the nurse and resident thought there was a bag but couldn't rupture it and just determined it wasn't a bag. But it was! (They apparently did not inform the new nurse (Mia)/resident of the possible bag). And Mia had found it and told the new resident who quickly broke the bag with the hook. After that, EVERYTHING fell into place, I started into active labor right away (because the bag was stopping everything), and shortly 3 hours later I had pushed out my beautiful daughter. Mia was absolutely our hero at this point. She had found something that completely changed the course of our labor, and quite frankly, something that was missed and not followed up on by earlier medical staff.
Following my daughter's birth, Mia helped me get her to latch and helped us pack up to go to our new room. She pushed me and my daughter to our new room, and we said our goodbyes. Right after Mia went back to her Unit, my husband and I talked about how wonderful she was in transforming the experience of my firstborn daughter. My husband and I were eternally grateful for Mia and how significant she was in turning our birth experience from something traumatic into something wonderful. As first-time parents, we were lucky and grateful to get Mia as our nurse that night, and we can only hope that we will be so lucky in the future to get someone half as amazing as her again.
This is where Mia comes in. Mia gently woke me (while wearing cat ears for Halloween) from my nap at around 7:15 pm to restart the Pitocin. I was very nervous at this point because the first round of Pitocin was futile and if the second round didn't work, we were looking at an emergency C-section. Teary-eyed, I told her I was anxious and she assuaged my anxiety with a warm smile and kind words. She was always available, very informative and direct, but also with calmness and sweetness that put me at ease. She did whatever she could to make me and my husband feel comfortable and when my husband and doula asked questions or made requests she was open, honest, and beyond helpful. It felt like she truly was on my team.
Around 12 pm at the mid-point dose of Pitocin, Mia checked my cervix and realized that either my bag had regrown or that it never fully ruptured. THIS WAS CRITICAL because earlier in the day the nurse and resident thought there was a bag but couldn't rupture it and just determined it wasn't a bag. But it was! (They apparently did not inform the new nurse (Mia)/resident of the possible bag). And Mia had found it and told the new resident who quickly broke the bag with the hook. After that, EVERYTHING fell into place, I started into active labor right away (because the bag was stopping everything), and shortly 3 hours later I had pushed out my beautiful daughter. Mia was absolutely our hero at this point. She had found something that completely changed the course of our labor, and quite frankly, something that was missed and not followed up on by earlier medical staff.
Following my daughter's birth, Mia helped me get her to latch and helped us pack up to go to our new room. She pushed me and my daughter to our new room, and we said our goodbyes. Right after Mia went back to her Unit, my husband and I talked about how wonderful she was in transforming the experience of my firstborn daughter. My husband and I were eternally grateful for Mia and how significant she was in turning our birth experience from something traumatic into something wonderful. As first-time parents, we were lucky and grateful to get Mia as our nurse that night, and we can only hope that we will be so lucky in the future to get someone half as amazing as her again.