Alicia McWilliams, BSN, RN, Is Honored With The DAISY Award

June 23 looked to be just another day in the office for former labor and delivery nurse Alicia McWilliams, BSN, RN. Now a perinatology nurse at the Methodist Hospital Perinatal Center, McWilliams enjoys the connections she’s able to make with patients but admits that she misses the often fast-paced thrill of labor and delivery.

She had no idea she was about to experience the best of both worlds that Wednesday morning during a routine appointment for Amy File, who was 30 weeks pregnant with identical twin boys.

“That morning, I was feeling a lot of pressure. Pressure that was different,” Amy said. “But my appointment was at 9:45 a.m., so I had just planned on bringing it up then.”

“She mentioned she was having pressure,” McWilliams said. “But she wasn’t in any pain, and she was talkative. So, the ultrasound sonographer went in, and about 10 minutes later, she came out to tell me, ‘Your patient’s in there crying.’ I thought, ‘What? Why?!’”

“The pain just kind of came out of nowhere,” Amy said. “I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I didn’t think I was going into labor at 30 weeks.”

“As I ran toward the room, I knew I had heard that kind of crying before,” McWilliams said. “So, without really thinking, I grabbed some gloves, walked in and asked if she could get on the bed so I could see what was going on. She was definitely in a different state of being at that point.”

Amy, who was in the bathroom of her exam room, was unable to move toward the bed.

“I looked down, and I saw it,” McWilliams said of Amy’s amniotic sack. “I told her, ‘You know what? The baby’s coming. So, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to breathe through this. I need you to focus on your breathing right now.’”

Amy then experienced an intense contraction, and that’s when her water broke. McWilliams caught Baby A before maternal-fetal medicine specialist Todd Lovgren, MD, took over and swiftly directed Amy’s transfer to Methodist Women’s Hospital for the delivery of Baby B.

Thanks to the skilled readiness of Amy’s entire care team, her twin boys – Ethan and Max – who were born 27 minutes apart at over 3 pounds each, are now healthy and thriving. They spent seven weeks in the Methodist Women’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

For the kindness, calmness, understanding and compassion that McWilliams showed during such a traumatic moment, Amy recently nominated her for The DAISY Award – a national honor that recognizes the extraordinary care of nurses.

“I knew I was in good hands,” Amy said. “The whole time. She reassured me of that. This isn’t how I had planned for it to go. But we all got excellent care, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”