If you ask any mom who has given birth in a hospital, many of them will remember the support and care they received from the labor and delivery nurses, even if they can’t remember their names.
These nurses help families during one of the most important days of their lives and a viral photo shows us just how hard they really work.
Many people know that nurses are the unsung heroes of hospitals around the country.
If you’ve ever stayed in a hospital, you know it’s the nurses who are the ones working long hours, tending to your needs, and showing you care when you need it the most.
This is especially true of labor and delivery nurses.
Labor and delivery nurses are there to support moms during the birth and help them welcome their babies to the world.
However, one woman’s post is shedding light on the emotional and physical toll this job can have on a person.
Lauren McIntyre snapped a photo of her twin sister, Caty, who works as a labor and delivery nurse. The photo was taken last summer, following a brutal four-day schedule where Caty had worked 53 hours.
Caty is seen sitting on a chair in her hospital scrubs, wiping away tears while she tries to eat some food.
Lauren shared the photo to Facebook recently to show the reality of what these nurses go through.
As Lauren explained in her Facebook post, besides the long hours, this photo had been taken on a particularly devastating day.
Caty had just come home from assisting with a stillborn birth.
In her post, Lauren explained the intense highs and lows labor and delivery nurses experience every day.
“They see great joy in smooth deliveries & healthy moms & babies. They see panic & anxiety when a new mom is scared. They see fear when a stat c-section is called. They see peace when the mom has support from her family – bc not all new moms do. They see teenagers giving birth. They see an addicted mom give birth to a baby who is withdrawing,” Lauren wrote in her post.
Since sharing the photo and Caty’s story, nurses across the country have shared their own stories.
Many said they too have been overwhelmed by their emotions following a stressful or hard day.
For many nurses, seeing Caty break down after her shift brought back familiar and painful memories.
For nurses, connecting with people and losing them is a part of their job. Thanks to Lauren and Caty’s story, now we can fully understand what these workers go through to help people in need.
