In recognition of the 10th anniversary of the UAB Women & Infants Center (WIC), we asked some women who delivered babies or received care at the WIC to share their experiences. UAB Medicine nurse Jennifer Cupp, RN, MSN, CRNP, describes her deliveries and the care and compassion she received.
When I found out I was pregnant with my first child in 2008, I was employed as a registered nurse (RN) in the Mother/Baby Unit at UAB Hospital. The question of whether or not to deliver at the hospital where I was employed and be cared for by the very people with whom I worked alongside every day was not even a question. I chose UAB without hesitation and had an amazing experience throughout the pregnancy and during the delivery of my first child, a son, whose gender was a surprise until he was born.
My coworkers were amazing, as always, and I could not have asked for better care. Fast-forward a couple years, and I was still a UAB RN when the UAB Women & Infants Center opened in February 2010. Moving day remains, to this day, one of my favorite memories of my employment at UAB. After months of planning, we were well prepared for the logistics of the day and had an incredible leadership team, all of whom had worked tirelessly to make the moving of new mothers and babies the distance of two city blocks as seamless as possible.
A few months after getting settled into the Women & Infants Center, I was offered a job closer to my home and family that would allow me to utilize my master’s degree and work as a nurse practitioner. After many hours of prayer and consideration, I made the difficult decision to resign from my RN position at UAB and pursue that job closer to home.
The Second Time Around
Shortly after leaving UAB, I found out I was pregnant with my second child. Without hesitation, I returned to UAB for my prenatal care and planned to deliver at UAB, despite it being over an hour from my home and no longer being a UAB employee. As a medical professional with many years of experience, I was well aware of the many unexpected complications that were possible even for the healthiest of pregnancies. I knew that UAB delivered top-notch medical care and was capable of handling the very sickest patients. Also, I wanted to deliver in the beautiful, brand new, state-of-the-art facility that is the UAB Women & Infants Center and be cared for by the very best and most highly trained women and infant nurses in the state of Alabama.
Thankfully, I had a healthy pregnancy the second time around and delivered a healthy baby girl just a few days before Christmas in December 2010. Everyone was absolutely wonderful, and I mean every single person we encountered during our stay – the admitting clerks, the labor and delivery staff, the anesthesia team, the delivery care team, the mother-baby staff, the lactation nurses, and the doctors in both OB/GYN and the Department of Pediatrics (nursery), the environmental services staff, and the food and nutrition staff.
Childbirth is one of the hallmark moments in a woman’s life that is never forgotten. Every woman who has given birth has a story to tell. In my case, I have two stories, two incredibly amazing stories – and two beautiful UAB babies to show for it. As a medical professional, my friends often look to me for questions about childbirth and women’s and childrens’ health issues. Inevitably, my conversations always end up at UAB.
Both of my babies are UAB babies, and I am beyond happy to share the amazing experiences and excellent care that I and my babies received at UAB. Professionally, I have also ended up back at UAB. After a few years of working as a nurse practitioner and then out of state as a travel nurse, I have now returned to UAB as a bedside nurse in the Continuing Care Nursery (CCN). I truly love my job, and I am blessed to care for the tiniest little miracles each and every day.
The UAB Women & Infants Center houses the very best medical care for women and children in the state of Alabama. We all want the best for ourselves, our families, and our friends. When asked where to go for the best prenatal care, the best maternity care, the best baby care, and the best nursing careers, my response is always the same: the UAB Women & Infants Center, hands down.
Click here to learn more about the UAB Women & Infants Center.