“No matter how much planning you do, it’s never enough – because you should expect the unexpected,” she reflected.
As a former NYGH Patient and Family Care Consultant, Michelle knew firsthand the compassionate and dedicated care at NYGH. In addition, only a few years ago, she had given birth to her first child at its nationally recognized Birthing Centre and knew, without a doubt, she was going back to welcome her baby boy, Jax, into the world.
And she did just that, but not without some health hurdles along the way.
Jax was born with jaundice (a yellow discoloration of a newborn baby’s skin and eyes due to an excess of bilirubin in the blood), and a mother-baby blood incompatibility – which can be life-threatening and lead to serious complications.
“I had to spend a number of days in the hospital in the Maternal Newborn and Paediatric unit as the health care team addressed a number of these issues,” she explained. “It isn’t how any mom imagines welcoming their newborn into the world, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else other than at North York General.”
And for Michelle, a delivery at NYGH proved to be not only life-changing, but life-sustaining. Thanks to the diligent and nimble care team, Michelle and baby Jax, received specialized care from an interprofessional team of obstetricians, paediatricians, midwifes and nurses who are skilled to deliver high quality and exceptional patient centered care – especially in these higher-risk circumstances.
“I had an exceptional experience welcoming my first child at North York General, so despite how scary it was to try to navigate through the infant jaundice and blood incompatibilities, I knew I was in expert hands at NYGH.”
Giving back
After their life-sustaining experience at NYGH’s Birthing Centre, Michelle and her family donated funds through Jax’s baptism celebration.
“In our culture, it’s customary to give a gift to guests during the baptism, but instead we honoured our loved ones by supporting North York General,” she said.
And that’s what her family did by making a generous donation to NYGH; a way to honour the hospital and health care teams who supported Michelle and Jax during their birthing journey.
“If I can help another family like ours through this support, then that’s all I can ask for,” she beamed.
North York General is building a new Birthing Centre to match our level of exceptional care.
Since NYGH opened more than fifty years ago, the hospital has supported more families along their birthing journey than any other community hospital in Ontario. But our Post-Partum Unit has not received any substantial updates since the hospital opened in 1968, and our Labour & Delivery Unit has aged since its opening almost 20 years ago.
And as we look to the future, we know the population of the Greater Toronto Area alone is projected to increase to over 10 million people by 2046. As such, we are embarking on a journey to revitalize our Birthing Centre. With your support, we are going to transform these spaces into a modern, integrated space, for every family and every community.
For decades, North York General has been leading the way with our seamless care along the entire continuum for families and their newborns. The time is now to upgrade our facilities to match our outstanding quality of care.
