We would like to thank our nurse, Natalya, for all that she did to support us, as we welcomed our son into the world. Natalya had a warm and welcoming personality that enabled us to feel extremely comfortable asking her questions and sharing any concerns with her. I was worried about the pain my son would experience with circumcision, and she provided reassurance without at all being dismissive of my concerns, promising to be there with our son the whole time.

We felt comfortable enough with her to share that our baby was adopted as an embryo, and she responded with positivity and interest in learning more about it and why we made that decision for our family. Throughout the day, her actions and words genuinely reflected her care and interest in us as a family, and it never felt like she was there just to do a job. I requested to go home after one night if possible, which the doctors agreed upon. However, because the circumcision was delayed, discharge was delayed until shift change. However, instead of leaving the new nurse to take on that responsibility and making us wait longer, she completed the discharge education for us herself after her shift ended. Her postpartum discharge teaching was very thorough, especially about postpartum depression, which is super important for new moms to hear. As a nursing instructor at Emory University School of Nursing, I can attest to her adherence to evidence-based practice and would want my students to aspire to emulate her ability to connect and care for patients. We want to thank Natalya for allowing us to feel seen and heard.