My labor and delivery nurse, Bree Henry, deserves the world for the way that she cared for me and protected my baby during delivery.

After attempting to induce labor for an entire day, my body was finally in active labor. Bree had just started her shift and walked me through the start of my active labor.

Quite quickly, I was convinced I was in transition; however, my cervical exam indicated that delivery was still a while away - I was only 6 cm. Bree listened to me and my concerns, and seemed to have an instinct that she needed to stay close by. As I labored on the toilet with my husband’s support, she waited just outside the bathroom door - though I didn’t realize she was there.

Only 15 minutes after my 6 cm cervical exam, my body began to push without my trying and my baby’s head emerged - all while I was standing up in the bathroom. It happened so quickly and involuntarily - there was no way for me to have known before that moment that the baby was coming. I was terrified.

As I called out for help, Bree was right there - in less than a second, she was on her knees on the floor catching my baby’s head with one hand, pulling the emergency cord with the other hand.

My husband described her as the Larry Fitzgerald of nurses. She acted so quickly - her instincts and her reflexes were beyond anything I have ever experienced. My body then pushed out my baby’s body involuntarily as well - I don’t know that I could have stopped it. And she was right there to catch my baby, as the rest of the medical team swarmed in in response to the emergency alarm.

She was compassionate, reassuring, and a safe presence through it all, even as she knelt on the bathroom floor. Truly, Bree’s instincts and skill were nothing short of a miracle. I am terrified to imagine what might have happened if she hadn’t been sticking so close in that moment. We all had every reason to believe that my delivery would still be a while away - and yet she was exactly where she needed to be when it mattered.

Bree deserves the world for what she did to keep my baby safe in that moment.

I will be forever grateful to her, and I hope she receives every award, promotion, and bonus available to her - she is truly exceptional.