Angelic Birth Experiences

AN ANSWERED PRAYER

I work in the newborn intensive care unit as a registered nurse. As a part of my job, I attend all deliveries that are considered to be high risk. High risk means that the baby is not responding well to the mother's contractions during labor. The obstetrician is the one that makes the decision if a newborn intensive care team should be present at the delivery to assist the infant. The team usually includes a physician, a nurse, and a respiratory therapist. On occasion, the decision is made to have the newborn intensive care nurse on standby in the room without the rest of the team. Such was the case recently, when I arrived at work and was called immediately to a delivery room. The obstetrician wanted to be cautious in this situation and provide extra care for the newborn, if needed, but she felt that she wouldn't need the whole team. The mother's labor was progressing nicely, and the baby's heart rate was within normal range. I prepared the warming bed and equipment for the infant's arrival. The warming bed is where the infant is placed immediately after delivery so that he or she can be examined. As I waited for the baby to be born, I heard a voice in my head telling me to call a doctor from the NICU to join me at the birth.
At first I thought it was my imagination, but the voice repeated the message, again telling me to have a doctor join me during the delivery. I turned to the obstetrician and told her that I would feel more comfortable if a physician from the NICU joined me in the delivery room. The obstetrician said there was clearly no indication to warrant having a physician join me as the mother's labor was progressing normally and the baby's heart rate continued to be within normal range.
Just as the baby's head was crowning and the delivery had begun, the voice came again repeating that a physician from the NICU should be brought in for this delivery. I said a quiet prayer asking that a physician from my unit be outside the delivery room door.
When the baby was born, his color was dark blue, indicating that he wasn't getting enough oxygen. I took the baby from the obstetrician and placed him on the warming bed, immediately giving him oxygen as I dried him off. I informed the obstetrician that I needed to take the infant to the NICU. I placed the identification bracelet on the infant, let the mother and father see their son, and then whisked him out the door and off to my unit. Standing right outside the door of the delivery room was a physician from my unit, who took one look at the infant and followed me to the newborn intensive care unit. My prayer had been answered. As the two of us entered the NICU with the baby, we were joined by the other members of the team, and we went to work on the infant to stabilize him. The infant was stabilized and then transferred to another facility that specialized in newborn cardiac defects, because it turned out this infant had a major problem with his heart. I was grateful my prayer had been heard and the doctor was right outside the door so that we could get this baby the attention he needed without any unnecessary delays.
I often discount that voice in my head as my imagination. One of the important things I learned from this experience was to trust these messages: they're direct, to the point, and for the highest good of everyone. This is the way angels speak to us. Angels guide us all we have to do is ask.