A nurse in Sentara Princess Anne’s mother-baby unit becomes a mother in her own right

For Johanna Joe, being a registered nurse in the mother-baby unit at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital has been the best kind of nursing role - challenging but also deeply rewarding. It’s no secret to her co-workers and patients that she loves her job.

“She’s just so much fun to be around. I think that’s what makes her patients love her so much,” says Kendra Pimer, a fellow registered nurse working alongside Johanna at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital. “No matter how upset or stressed they are, she has such a positive outlook.”

But this fall, Johanna got a chance to see the mother-baby unit from an entirely different perspective: as a patient.

Sharing the news

Johanna had been pregnant twice prior to this pregnancy, including right around when she started working in the mother-baby unit. But she had miscarriages both times.

“I had just started working on mother-baby,” said Johanna. “So, it was kind of hard to return to work and see all the moms with their babies.”

This time around, she was more fortunate. However, Johanna was understandably reluctant to tell her co-workers until she was far enough along in her pregnancy. As Pimer remembers it, Johanna shared the news on July 4th.

“She had had some struggles getting pregnant initially, so she was kind of quiet about it for a little while. She ended up telling us while we were standing at the time clock,” says Pimer. “She came out and she was smiling, I knew something was up with her. She just turned around and said, ‘I’m pregnant!’”

Choosing Sentara Princess Anne

Once Johanna confirmed she was pregnant and shared the news, work took on a different meaning. After taking care of so many other mothers and babies, she’d soon be the one giving birth.

“For the longest time I was like, ‘Wow , there’s actually a human inside me!’” says Johanna. “I still couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that I would have a baby, that I would get to go home with my own baby.”

Initially, Johanna was set to deliver at Sentara Leigh Hospital, where her provider has admitting privileges. But when her provider moved to a different practice, she considered going with another provider who delivered at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital instead.

At first, Johanna thought that it might feel weird to have her baby with her co-workers. Ultimately, she was swayed by Sentara Princess Anne’s top-notch facilities and by the fact that she knew her fellow nurses would take excellent care of her.

“Having a baby is such an intimate experience, but I felt I would be safest with my co-workers,” says Johanna. “It was weird being the patient, but I’m so happy that I did it!”

Labor and delivery

Johanna’s pregnancy was deemed low risk. However, high blood pressure readings concerned her provider because they are a symptom of gestational hypertension.

“I have very bad white coat syndrome, which is when you get high blood pressure when you’re in the doctor’s office,” says Johanna. “They wanted to induce me at 38 weeks, but I declined.”

Two weeks later, however, another checkup revealed that she had low amniotic fluid. This condition can have negative consequences for the baby. At this point, Johanna was scheduled to come in the next day to be induced. In the meantime, her provider administered a membrane sweep–a non-surgical procedure that can help induce labor.

Johanna was supposed to go to labor and delivery in for the evening, but the beds were full. She missed a few calls from the department but had decided in the meantime that she wanted to labor at home for as long as possible.

“I labored all night and went in at 5 a.m.,” Johanna remembers. “One of the nurses said it was good that you didn’t pick up, because every time you didn't, someone else came in and had a baby!”

Johanna arrived at the hospital just as her fellow night-shift nurses were going off duty. She, along with her co-workers, assumed that since this was her first baby she’d still be laboring when they returned that evening. But, as luck would have it, Johanna’s delivery went incredibly smoothly, and by noon that day, Johanna had welcomed her baby boy - Felix Joe - into the world.

“They let me pull him up and cut the cord,” says Johanna. “ I just couldn’t believe how big he was and that he fit inside of me. He was 8lbs 1oz.I couldn’t believe that we did it. It felt very surreal.”

A new perspective

The night-shift nurses returned to find that one of their own was now a mother, and the excitement in the mother-baby unit was palpable.

“We were very excited about it, especially since it was her first baby,” says Pimer “It was a fun night because everyone was just so happy and obsessed with him. We had so much fun snuggling him, hanging out with her, it was just super sweet.”

Because her delivery went so smoothly and her baby was healthy, Johanna was able to leave the hospital the next day, about 24 hours after giving birth. Felix is doing well, and Johanna has since returned to work. As a nurse in the mother-baby unit, Johanna was used to taking care of new moms and their babies. So, to be on the other end of that has been both a familiar experience and an eye-opening one.

“As a nurse, there’s always more to learn. At least the baby part I will have done,” says Johanna. “It’s one thing to tell patients this is what you should be looking for, then when you do it yourself it’s like ‘OK, my God.’ I definitely have a new understanding, I think that will translate to my patient care as well.”

 

Learn more about Sentara's pregnancy and birth services.