Nurse-Family Partnership NewsLink Winter 2018 | Page 3

Mahogany’s story was recently recognized in Parents magazine for partnering with nurse Stephanie to help her through pregnancy.

Her pregnancy had been hard on her body. When she was swollen, nurse Stephanie helped her monitor for signs of preeclampsia. Luckily, Mahogany did not have this serious condition, but she took steps with Stephanie’s advice to stay off her feet and hydrate with water. “You and your baby come first,” Stephanie would tell her.

When Mahogany found out she was pregnant, she was 20-years old and had just gone in for a doctor’s visit to treat a sore throat. “I wasn’t planning on becoming pregnant,” she shared. “And I didn’t know how to take care of a baby. All

I knew was that I was going to be a mom

in 9 months.”

Mahogany soon met nurse Stephanie, who helped her through ever step.

During pregnancy, she decided that she wanted to breastfeed her baby. However when baby arrived, it wasn’t so simple. She tried and tried to breastfeed during the first 15 hours after he was born, but he just wouldn’t latch. After a series of tests, the doctors discovered that he had swallowed an excessive amount of amniotic fluid and they pumped her baby’s stomach. Finally, he latched instantly.

Mahogany met her goal to breastfeed her baby, even after going back to work. Today, Mahogany continues to breastfeed her 18-month old son, and is working on weaning him off.

The first couple of months of motherhood – including right before Hurricane Matthew hit – Mahogany described it as like living in a gray cloud. “A lot of mothers don’t want to talk about it, but so many like me go through postpartum depression,” she shared. “Stephanie helped to get me through it. She would tell me she was only a phone call away. And she would always pick up at first ring.”

It was just her alone taking care of her new baby all day, while her son’s father was at work. It was a big change for Mahogany.

“It took a lot of courage for her to open up to me and know when to reach out when she needed support,” said nurse Stephanie. “Mahogany was determined to stay positive for her baby, despite not feeling happy. When she needed more support, our visits increased. I was there when she needed me.”

Today, Mahogany is the proud mom of a beautiful and fun-loving toddler Josiah, who loves to try his hand at shooting basketball (yes, at age 1) and starts dancing when he hears music. He rocks side-to-side and tries over and over again to (cont.) (cont.) fingers.

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