Making a beautiful birthing experience in Bloomington

Like many expecting parents, Autum Martin and Joe Brown had prepared a birth plan detailing how they wanted to bring their daughter into the world back home in Asheville, North Carolina.

And then came Hurricane Helene.

“We, like pretty much everyone in that community, thought we were prepared, but it ended up being so much worse than anyone really anticipated,” says Martin, who was 38 weeks at the time.

“There were widespread water outages,” says Brown, who explained they had initially evacuated to Charlotte to stay with a family member. “The morning we decided to come to Indiana, the city made a formal announcement that if you’re an expectant mother, you should evacuate and be prepared to deliver at different hospitals.”

That’s when Lindsay Elfers, RN, with IU Health Bloomington Perinatal Services came into the story.

Martin’s parents live in the area and reached out to learn what their daughter could expect at the facility.

“I went out and met with them in the lobby, and we talked about everything that needed to happen, all the things that we offer and that we would try to accommodate their birth plan and wishes to the best of our ability,” says Elfers.

Elfers also gave them a quick tour of the unit so they could send photos of the space to the expecting parents. The Labor and Delivery room in the pictures was Martin’s room when she was admitted.

“We were still in Charlotte and pretty much got our whole birth team here in Bloomington assembled over the course of about one day,” says Brown. “It was really seamless, and they were very accommodating.”

“It was our plan B, and we didn’t have our original birth team, but it is all okay because she’s here, she’s healthy and she’s safe,” says Martin as she gazes at baby Anya in her arms.

Martin was able to have some appointments with the outpatient Obstetric team before her labor started and says she received great care, even though it was so last minute.

“They were really prepared for us, even though we called to request a new patient appointment for the next week at 38 weeks,” says Martin. “Everybody was always super helpful.”

Then, at about 4 am on Monday, Oct. 21, Martin went into labor.

“I took her as a patient that morning to give her that extra sense of comfort because they already knew me,” says Elfers, who explained that the team did their best to follow the original birthing plan as closely as possible.

“They really made what felt like kind of the worst possible kind of thing that could happen into a real positive experience,” says Brown.

“She ended up having such a beautiful birth,” says Martin. “It was scary until it wasn’t, and it all worked out.”

Learn more about Hurricane Helene recovery efforts and how you can help on the FEMA website.