Kate Pastorek
June 2021
Kate
Pastorek
,
RN
MMC Birth Center
Maine Medical Center
Portland
,
ME
United States
Kate helped us get settled and then became emotional saying goodbye. I truly feel as if she is a member of our family with how she treated us this entire time she was our nurse.
I would like to recognize Kate Pastorek, RN, for her patient advocacy, her leadership abilities, and how compassionate she was with myself and my wife through the delivery process of our second child. At first meeting Kate she was very to the point and somewhat demanding of how we do things which, at first, we felt a little leery about. Once we were doing the positions she suggested to get my wife further dilated and were seeing the progress we understood better how she was really looking out for our best interests.
The thing that really impressed me was Friday she started her shift at 7:00 AM and immediately came into our room. Upon arriving at our room we discovered that my wife was fully dilated and Kate put together a plan to start pushing. She worked with us until 2:00 PM nonstop until we had to resort to a C-section. Per protocol, they took my wife back and Kate was by her side the entire time. After everything was set up she came back to the room to get me and informed me my wife was having some anxiety but she was doing just fine. My wife informed me after the delivery how great she was holding her hand and talking her down when I was unable to be there. Moments like this give me such great confidence in how this hospital operates. During the delivery, Kate kept coming over to talk to us and tell us how things were going and gave me and my wife so much comfort during this really scary process. For me, it is really nerve-racking when my wife is laying on the operating table and I can feel the doctors pulling and moving her trying to get the baby out. During this entire process, Kate kept coming over to us and saying everyone is doing great! Towards the end of the process, she informed me she would be the one catching the baby. This was really great news to me and my wife! We felt really good about the person we had been working with for a couple of days now to be the one who greets our baby into this world. After our baby was born we became a bit concerned because he wasn't crying. My wife was starting to have some anxiety due to this and Kate immediately came over after handing him over to the NICU team and told us he is doing great! She informed us that he was just a bit startled after being so deep in the birth canal and then having to be yanked out. This made us feel much better and at peace with the situation. After the surgery was over she made sure our baby was on mom’s chest for skin to skin as soon as possible as she was aware of how important that was to us. Upon getting back to the room she checked my wife’s vitals as well as the baby’s and helped initiate breastfeeding. She was so patient with my wife and baby trying to get this process rolling.
The thing that really stood out to me was how passionate she is about her job. She became REALLY invested in what we as a family were trying to accomplish while bringing our son into the world. She was always patient with us and just so kind. Later that evening she moved us up to our family room on the 4th floor. She helped us get settled and then became emotional saying goodbye. My wife and I were both emotional as well because of the bond that was created with this nurse. I truly feel as if she is a member of our family with how she treated us this entire time she was our nurse. I greatly appreciate this hospital and you all have made this experience such a joy.
The thing that really impressed me was Friday she started her shift at 7:00 AM and immediately came into our room. Upon arriving at our room we discovered that my wife was fully dilated and Kate put together a plan to start pushing. She worked with us until 2:00 PM nonstop until we had to resort to a C-section. Per protocol, they took my wife back and Kate was by her side the entire time. After everything was set up she came back to the room to get me and informed me my wife was having some anxiety but she was doing just fine. My wife informed me after the delivery how great she was holding her hand and talking her down when I was unable to be there. Moments like this give me such great confidence in how this hospital operates. During the delivery, Kate kept coming over to talk to us and tell us how things were going and gave me and my wife so much comfort during this really scary process. For me, it is really nerve-racking when my wife is laying on the operating table and I can feel the doctors pulling and moving her trying to get the baby out. During this entire process, Kate kept coming over to us and saying everyone is doing great! Towards the end of the process, she informed me she would be the one catching the baby. This was really great news to me and my wife! We felt really good about the person we had been working with for a couple of days now to be the one who greets our baby into this world. After our baby was born we became a bit concerned because he wasn't crying. My wife was starting to have some anxiety due to this and Kate immediately came over after handing him over to the NICU team and told us he is doing great! She informed us that he was just a bit startled after being so deep in the birth canal and then having to be yanked out. This made us feel much better and at peace with the situation. After the surgery was over she made sure our baby was on mom’s chest for skin to skin as soon as possible as she was aware of how important that was to us. Upon getting back to the room she checked my wife’s vitals as well as the baby’s and helped initiate breastfeeding. She was so patient with my wife and baby trying to get this process rolling.
The thing that really stood out to me was how passionate she is about her job. She became REALLY invested in what we as a family were trying to accomplish while bringing our son into the world. She was always patient with us and just so kind. Later that evening she moved us up to our family room on the 4th floor. She helped us get settled and then became emotional saying goodbye. My wife and I were both emotional as well because of the bond that was created with this nurse. I truly feel as if she is a member of our family with how she treated us this entire time she was our nurse. I greatly appreciate this hospital and you all have made this experience such a joy.