I am a 22-year-old first-time mother who was eager to meet her baby but equally scared. I arrived at the L&D unit on Sunday night and was met with nothing but kindness by the entire staff of the Vincennes Labor and Delivery unit. I went in for what I thought was going to be a “normal” labor, but it ended in an emergency C-section. This brought a lot of emotion after I spent 32 hours in labor and 2 hours of active pushing.

Sarah was in and out of my room several times throughout my stay, but the most significant was when I was towards the end of pushing. She looked at me dead in the eyes and said the word “can’t” is not aloud and how it was a silly word to even bring up, because she reassured me I most definitely could. She reminded me that my body was made to do this exact thing, that I was, in fact, strong enough, and that we were going to get this baby here safe and sound. She stepped out of the normal medical lingo to comfort me with a pep talk I truly needed.

After the surgery, I saw Sarah the next morning, and she was so happy to welcome our son into this world with her kind words of praise. She started to call him the toddler, which quickly caught on through the unit, and he was known for his size and attitude. Each and every time she came into my room as my nurse, she validated every feeling I had and gave me so much power through the knowledge she shared. She was very in-depth about my care and explained to me what had happened to my body and what care I received. With my emergency C-sections, some of the details were so fast that my husband and I skipped by them, or they were lost in the event from trying to stay focused. She was willing to explain in very clear terms what had happened and make sure we knew what had happened.

During one of her shifts, she even had a student nurse with her, and I informed the student that she had the best teacher for the day. Sarah was truly an angel to me, my baby, and my husband. She empowered my husband to easily step into his new father role, just as much as caring for my physical needs, and gave me the courage as a new time mom. Kindness goes an extremely long way in such vulnerable states. My experience at the Good Samaritan labor and delivery unit was second to none. A lot had happened medically that I did not see coming, yet I walked away completely non-traumatized because of the superior care and support we received. From Dr. B, every nurse on the floor day and night, the medical techs, the students, to the housekeeping, I have nothing but praise to give. I believe in a good job where a good job is earned. I truly appreciate Sarah and all the medical staff for our stay to bring our son into the world. I will never forget her or the words she spoke over me. Good nurses are truly angels and I hope they never lose sight of their special gift.

Note: This is Sarah's 2nd DAISY Award!