My wife I welcomed our new baby daughter into the world at Norwalk Hospital, and we wish to recognize Nurse Bela from the Norwalk Childbirth Center, who helped us with labor, delivery, and post-partum care.
We met Bela when she came into our room when M was in active labor and just a few hours from delivering our daughter. She quickly demonstrated great warmth, kindness, and consideration, which made us feel at ease with her and alleviated some of our anxiety. She was thoughtful and motivating throughout the contractions. We could tell that she cared about us as patients and people. She understood our needs and responded to them; for example, Bela explained and helped my wife use several different birthing positions and coached both of us through the labor process. She was informative and encouraging, while also giving M the space needed to overcome some painful and exhausting moments. When she saw that M was exhausted and overwhelmed by pain at one point, she advocated for additional pain medication and a break from pushing to rest. This respite allowed M to resume when she was stronger and gave the baby time to descend further down the birth canal with ease.
Bela was solicitous of our needs; for example, she applied cold presses to my wife to keep her cool, gave us cold drinks, and gave me hot coffee between contractions, among other things. She brought a warm and human touch to the job by talking some about her own experiences as a mother. Her positive attitude and sensitivity made a special, but also stressful, day as comfortable and reassuring as possible.
While all the nurses who helped us during our stay were professional, warm, kind and so helpful, we nominate Bela because she was beside us through the most challenging moments of active labor, transition, birth, and immediate postpartum care, when we really needed her.