When I think about my birth experience, I don’t just remember the fear and the pain. I remember all of you. This was the hardest and most frightening experience of my life. After giving birth, I developed severe complications — high blood pressure, a postpartum hemorrhage, and intense and escalating pain.

I required emergency ultrasounds, a CT scan, and ultimately an emergency D&C. There were moments when I truly believed something was terribly wrong. Moments when I was afraid I might not survive. And in those moments, all of you became my anchors. 

Each of you did more than provide clinical care. You provided safety. You provided advocacy. You treated me not just as a patient, but as a person and as a mother. This experience was traumatic. It is still emotional to talk about. But because of you, a moment that could have broken me became one where I felt supported, protected, and cared for.

You embody everything the DAISY Award stands for — clinical excellence, compassionate care, extraordinary service, and patient and family-centered care. I am standing here today because of the way you showed up for my family and me. And I will never forget it.