When Avante went into labor two weeks early, a team of strangers became her lifeline — from her living room to the NICU.
Avante had been receiving prenatal care at Holy Name for months, and everything was going as planned, up until two weeks before her due date. What started as mild cramping in the early hours of November 1 quickly became unmistakable labor pains. When she rose to use the restroom, Avante felt what she described as "a boulder" in her belly: She knew her baby was on the way.
Avante was in such severe pain that moving was no longer possible. She called out to her boyfriend to dial 911, then lay back down in her bed and continued laboring while her two other children waited in the living room, unaware of just how quickly things were progressing.
Police arrived first. The officers did something that meant the world to Avante: They stayed with her children, keeping them calm and entertained while the rest of the scene unfolded in Avante's bedroom. Shortly after, the Holy Name EMT team arrived.
EMT Brianna Wargelin and the EMT team made their way to the bedroom and, with quiet professionalism, helped Avante deliver her son. Avante's boyfriend, Dashawn, was able to cut the umbilical cord himself — a moment that felt deeply personal to the couple. When it was time to go to the hospital, the team carefully secured Avante in a specialized chair and navigated her safely down the stairs and into the ambulance. She felt like she was floating.
As Avante and her newborn son, Hendrix, were transported to Holy Name Medical Center, the EMT team continued all necessary monitoring during the trip. They were in awe. It wasn't every day they met a mother who had just delivered at home.
At the hospital, staff helped deliver the placenta. Nurses helped Avante clean up and get comfortable, and she settled into a recovery room for the remainder of her stay.
As Holy Name’s pediatrics team evaluated Hendrix, they saw he had jaundice and moved quickly to get him appropriate care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). He would end up staying in the NICU for two weeks, which for Avante, was very difficult. She had just been through an extraordinary birth experience and now she was going home while her newborn stayed behind.
That's when Nurse Sara stepped in. Sara was also pregnant, and she brought something to Avante's care that no protocol could prescribe: genuine understanding. When Avante was overwhelmed, Sara cared for her with patience. When Avante was afraid, Sara comforted her with reassurance. When Avante was frustrated, Sara showed compassion. In moments when Avante most needed to feel seen, she did.
Avante is grateful to everyone who carried her through one of the most frightening and extraordinary nights of her life: the local police, who kept her children calm; the EMT team for their professionalism and expertise; the NICU staff, who cared for Hendrix until he was ready to come home; and Nurse Sara, for reminding her that they were all in great hands.
