The birthing room is where profound experiences occur and learning never ends. As a labor and delivery nurse, I had a front row seat.

Babies are born one of two ways, either by vaginal delivery or cesarean section, but there are countless ways each birth can unfold.  Birth can be an astounding, exciting event or an unanticipated, life-altering catastrophe.  The vignettes in this book, ranging from uneventful to tragic, follow my career in chronological order.  I have woven my personal reflections into each story.

A book for anyone who is interested in authentic, truthful stories of human connection and birth, When There Are Two Patients in One Body invites the reader to join me in the delivery room: to experience the birthing process as it unfolds and to be privy to the details and drama that are inherent in the wide range of patients and births. 

My hope is that the reader will be captivated by my honest portrayal of these real-life birthing accounts, and by how they impacted me, both personally and professionally. The reader will become aware of the wide variety of birthing experiences and how they are directly influenced by access to health care, race, culture, income/poverty, education, and other types of inequity. Along the way readers are likely to realize being a Labor Nurse is far more than “a great job where you get to cuddle babies.”