Tammy Kowalik
October 2019
Tammy
Kowalik
,
RN
Maternal Child
Mercy Hospital of Buffalo
Buffalo
,
NY
United States

 

 

 

Tammy is now a household name with my family after the care, compassion, and professionalism that we experienced when I delivered at Mercy Hospital. Recently, we welcomed our daughter, B, into the world. Shortly after, Tammy came and introduced herself and explained that I would be getting a one on one lesson on lactation. Unfortunately, complications arose and I was told that Baby B was being transported by ambulance to Oishei. Our B was born less than 24 hours ago, I was being discharged and wondering if my B was going to need immediate surgery. In the midst of decision making and emotions, Tammy stepped up.
I made it well known how important it was for me to exclusively breastfeed. Even with all of the commotion with transferring B to the NICU at Oishei, Tammy kept me focused. She quickly prepared all of the nursing tools that I may need and reviewed each item with me. she had the breast pump ready to go and was patient with me while guiding me through how to work the machine as she knew Oishei had the same exact Medela pump. In addition, Tammy kept my husband and I updated with the discharge paperwork and coordinating with the other nurses.
When I arrived at Oishei, the nurses couldn't believe how well versed I was on the Medela pump and how prepared I was given the circumstances. Needless to say, B is now in the 91st percentile for her weight and is exclusively breastfed. It didn't come easy, however, Tammy phoned me after I was home from the hospital to see how we were holding up. I returned to Mercy a week later for a follow-up lactation session with Tammy that she graciously offered. Not only did Tammy go above and beyond, she even offered a home session as I was healing postpartum.
As a nervous first-time mom with big hopes for my hospital experience, I can confidently say that Tammy is the lactation nurse that you dream of having at your side. Tammy educated my family and myself in a time of stress with poise. My family and I also are thankful to Mercy Hospital for having a lactation consultant as part of the labor and delivery experience.
My family and I would highly recommend Mercy Hospital for a truly positive birthing and lactation experience mainly due to fantastic nurses like Tammy.