NSMC Birthplace Press Items
On February 4, Melina awoke suddenly with an intense pain her abdomen. She was just 24 weeks pregnant, and the sudden pain made her concerned that something was wrong with her baby. She and her husband Jefferson Reyes quickly drove to the Birthplace at North Shore Medical Center, where she had an emergency Caesarean section (C-section). Her labor was quick, but the journey to improve the health of her premature baby would be a bit longer.
Gabriella Toussaint, of Peabody, was full of joy as she anticipated giving birth to her second child, but, like many pregnant mothers during this pandemic, she was also sad and a bit nervous about having to give birth without her partner present. Gabriela and her husband Reggie Toussaint made the decision that Reggie would stay home to tend to their six-year-old daughter Frida when Gabriela went into labor. “It was a difficult choice that we had to make, but I knew it was the right thing,” Gabriela said. When the day arrived for the birth in April, Gabriela found the North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) Birthplace staff ready to give her the support she needed and an exceptional experience.
When Erin Korgie of Swampscott was pregnant with her first child and had to plan where to give birth, like most first-time parents she started with research. Her OB/GYN Joel Heller, M.D., recommended she tour the Birthplace at nearby NSMC Salem Hospital. She liked that it offered private patient rooms--something many of Erin’s friends had missed out on when they gave birth at hospitals in Boston.
While preterm birth affects about one of every 10 infants born in the United States, you never imagine that your baby will be that one. For Saugus resident Catherine Lopez, that was her reality, when her son Matthew Evans-Lopez was born at just 24 weeks.
When envisioning giving birth, Patricia Cepeda of Lynn, always imagined she would deliver vaginally and would hold her baby’s head as he or she was brought into the world. When that wasn’t possible for her second birth, due to having a caesarean delivery for breech the first time around, she didn’t give up on her vision so easily.
When Megan DiMambro walked into the Birthplace at North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) this past June, her birthing plan was the same as it had been with her first child: “Take things one step at a time and, if possible, give birth naturally.” While an epidural had been necessary with her first delivery, this time she was armed with knowledge about a new pain management option being offered at the Birthplace, nitrous oxide.
After her daughter, Mia, was born one month prematurely this past December, Amanda Meads found herself spending a lot of time—up to eight hours a day over a three-week period—in North Shore Medical Center’s Special Care Nursery. She was among the first to experience the unit after the completion of a $2 million expansion and renovation project.
When Mckenzie Coleman was born last April, she had no idea that she was continuing a family tradition that goes back four generations. Mckenzie, like her mother before her, follows in a long line of Macombers born at NSMC Salem Hospital. The close relationship between the family and North Shore Medical Center dates back nearly 100 years (see sidebar on next page). In fact, the hospital’s Macomber building was named after Harold Macomber, once a visionary leader and fundraiser at the medical center.
When Paige Sherman was born eight weeks early, weighing just 4 lbs., 6 oz., she was immediately transferred to NSMC's Special Care Nursery where she received life-saving care, Paige is now a busy and active two-year-old. To better serve patients like Paige, NSMC is planning an expansion and renovation of its Special Care Nursery, another step in the hospital's ongoing enhancement of the patient experience.
After 18 months of trying to conceive, Melissa Meehan and her husband Matt, of Swampscott, turned to NSMC reproductive endocrinologist Mitchell Rein, M.D., for help.