BEACHWOOD, Ohio — Sometimes life's greatest moments of happenstance take decades to arrive. No one knows this more than 35-year-old Emily Hanson.
"That was the full circle moment for me. I thought the full circle moment for me had already happened, but that was it," Emily said.
That full circle moment was when Emily, a labor and delivery nurse, showed up for work at University Hospitals Ajuha Medical Center a few months ago.
"I got the assignment paper with our assignments and our names on it and who our patients were. And then it always lists the names of the providers and who's taking care of who," Emily explained.
But little did Emily know, the woman she'd be working with in the delivery room, Maureen Stein-Vavro, was the midwife who caught her into this world.
"I saw Maureen Stein's name and I was like, no way is this *the* Maureen Stein who I've heard about my entire life," Emily said. "She walked up and we kind of chatted about the patient for a second and then I was like, 'Did you deliver babies 35 years ago?' And, it was her. She's written all over my baby book, like delivering provider and then just all these great things about her. And then I was just recently going through some stuff at my mom's house and found like a little article from maybe a magazine or something and it said, 'Name a nurse you wanna thank.' And my mom thanked Maureen."
That's because Emily and her mom, Kathy Lawrence, had to fight to be here.
"When my mom was pregnant with me in 1988, they found a mass on her brain," Emily explained. "When I, I met Maureen that day. She asked what my mom's name was and immediately she said, 'You're the brain surgery baby.' I don't think I could recall a patient that quickly and from 35 years prior, so that was pretty ... I started crying.
Maureen says she will never forget that day.
"I remember she verbalized something to me about being a little bit nervous because now all of a sudden after all these months, (Kathy) was gonna have to see and get to see this beautiful baby. But what had all the medications and what had all the procedures done?" Maureen said, of that moment three decades ago. "The moment of birth, then you see, 'Yes, she's beautiful. She has 10 fingers and toes. Yeah. She's perfect in every way.'"
For Maureen, it's just what she was called to do.
"A young lady's life changes forever when she gives birth. And not only the first time, but each time she gives birth. And our role, our job, our passion, is to nurture people in that because that's what helps people become mothers," she said.
Kathy Lawrence hasn't seen Maureen in 30 years. She's delivered all three of her children. Earlier this month, we went to Cleveland Heights High School to see her. She had no idea we had a very special surprise for her: Maureen was waiting in a room to be reunited.
"(Maureen) played a major role in that point in my life that was very ... I can't even describe how difficult it was," Kathy said before the surprise.
"Oh my gosh!" Kathy said when she saw Maureen.
"Hi Old friend. How are you, old friend?" Maureen said to Kathy.
"Oh my gosh. How are you?" Kathy said.
"I'm so glad that we didn't age either one of us!" Maureen said, through laughs.
Then, for the first time in over 30 years, Kathy was given the chance to say thank you.
"I'm so grateful for her and all the medical team that helped me through," Kathy said. "She, ultimately, was the biggest part."
"I didn't save your life, but it helped you be a mom," Maureen said.
"You did so much more though because (my mom) was so sick. You guided her through the scariest part of her life. And, that's huge," Emily said.
Talk about a full circle moment. When recalling the moment they delivered a baby together, Emily and Maureen smiled.
"Emily told the patient that we knew each other from the past," Maureen said through laughs.
"She was so excited. She was excited with us," Emily said of the patient.
Their bond was born in a delivery room, but they were brought together by fate.
"We're in (this profession) to make things better for each other. And if I was one little part of you becoming who you are, I'm grateful. And then you take it and you send it further. 'Cause somebody's gonna come back and 30 years and say, 'I met Emily. I would've never known to do this,'" Maureen said to Emily.
"Everybody has a story. Every birth has a story, every baby has a story and every mom has a story. And we're just the lucky people to get to do that," Maureen said.
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