Meet the Windsor nurse who delivered babies, cared for expectant moms for 47 years

For 47 years, Windsor Regional Hospital nurse Mary Giswein has guided a mom as she breathed through labour, squeezed an expectant mom's hand during a complication, and nursed many a newborn in the first days of life.

But this month, Giswein officially stepped away from a career she says was exhilarating yet stressful.

Her entire career, Giswein, 66, worked in the hospital's Family Birthing Centre, in the nursery, labour and, most recently, triage units. Reflecting on it all, Giswein says she's reminded of the innocence with which she entered the job, but of the understanding she's since gained. 

"I loved it. It changed. It was always exciting. Seeing mothers and babies born, there's nothing better," she said, adding that she's helped in about 100 births. 

"You just don't know how much responsibility you're going to have and how much patients are going to rely on you." 

Giswein recalls the advancements in medicine and technology that have changed the birthing experience. From continuous epidurals —  at one time, she says, there was no anesthesia — to postpartum care, and the surge of doulas and midwives. 

There was also a time when Windsor didn't have a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or high-risk delivery area, she said.

In these cases, Giswein said, she'd often get a call in the middle of the night to fly with a woman in labour to London, Ont. One round-trip flight and a few trips in an ambulance, and she'd be back on her shift at Windsor Regional. 

Emotional nursing ride

In the early years of her career, spouses and family members weren't allowed in the delivery room, she said, so she'd have to step out to announce a baby's arrival. 

On occasion, Giswein said, she'd joke with the loved one and tell them there was twins — but sometimes, she was telling the truth. 

"[Sometimes] we didn't know ourselves. A baby would be delivered and then the doctor would check their abdomen and say, 'Oh no, there's one more in there,' and then you know, everybody was shocked and it was exciting," she said. 

But as much as she would bask in the joy alongside a family celebrating the healthy birth of a newborn or two, Giswein said it was personally hard when that wasn't the case. 

"Sometimes people come in in an emergency situation, and it doesn't go well and the babies don't survive, and that's very difficult," she said.

"You feel very close to that family and you take a piece of that home with you too ... you think about it, you dream about it, you lose sleep over it." 

In the last year and half, she saw how frustrating COVID-19 could be for some. 

Giswein said without visitors allowed indoors, she saw many women experience ultrasounds and attend other check-up appointments alone. 

"[The nurses] just had to be more supportive. [The women] were upset, and we would have to reassure them that they are OK and we could help them." 

Giswein also cared for COVID-positive women who came in to check that the illness didn't affect their unborn baby. 

After decades of caring for others, something Giswein said she already misses, she knew it was time to care for herself. Retirement will involve her and her husband visiting her own babies — her two adult daughters — and travelling post-COVID-19.