I am grateful to be a small part of this extraordinary experience

I am a lactation consultant at BBC and I was able to be part of an exceptional patient experience on Friday 4/30/2021.

A patient in the birthplace was COVID positive and shortly after delivery required extra care and was transferred to CCU. It was very important to the patient to continue her breastfeeding journey for her newborn daughter. She was sent to CCU with a breast pump and instructions on how and when to use it.

When I arrived to the birthplace the day after she was transferred to CCU, I went down to see how pumping was going and to bring some other supplies down to her. I talked to Sophia Herbstreith, her CCU nurse to make sure it was okay to go in and get her pumping. Sophia was amazing and called the house supervisor to make sure I had the correct PPE needed to be in there with the patient. She went above and beyond to support me and allow me to safely be part of the patients care team.

Before I went into her room to help her pump, Kelly Conklin, a birthplace RN told me to wait – that her and Tammy Strandberg (nurse manager for the birthplace) were going to bring the baby down to her so she could breastfeed.

As the baby arrived in the isolette, nurses smiled and peaked in at the newborn with joy and excitement – and based on the craziness of the day and the rising cases of COVID positive patients, it was probably the most enjoyable part of their day. I gowned up and went into the patient’s room. The isolette was brought to the door and I was able to take the baby out and bring her to see her mom. The patient was overwhelmed with joy at being able to hold her newborn daughter again. After some snuggles, the baby was able to breastfeed for 15 minutes. This was a big deal! It was an emotional experience for everyone involved and definitely made a huge impact to the patient and her breastfeeding journey.

Everyone involved went totally above and beyond to make the patient feel valued, heard, and cared for. I am grateful to be a small part of this extraordinary experience, but everyone involved was truly selfless and made an incredible impact on this situation.

Sophia, Kelly, Tammy, and the other birthplace staff helped make this happen. It was truly incredible moment.