Karlee said choosing Winona Health’s Women’s Health clinic and midwife Katie Duerr for her prenatal care and to help deliver her baby made having her first child a wonderful experience—even during a pandemic. “Katie is amazing. She’s so thoughtful, a genuinely nice person who makes me feel so comfortable, I can ask her anything,” says Karlee. “She is just amazing.” When a tiny cyst was discovered during her ultrasound, Karlee remembers, “Katie had told the staff to make sure they came to get her as soon as I came in. She knew I’d be scared and she wanted to give me a hug and let me know that it was likely that things were going to be fine. I could just feel how much she really cared about me. It was such a relief when, as it turned out, things were fine.” As her due date approached, Karlee remembers she was getting more and more nervous. “I’m like the biggest baby in the world,” Karlee laughed. “Katie was so reassuring and did a great job of keeping me calm. When I got to the hospital in labor, I was super nervous. The Family Birth Center was full or almost full. Even though I knew it was busy, the nurses were just wonderful, everyone was so helpful and made us feel so comfortable and at home.” Karlee says she felt prepared with her birth plan and she had a fast, three-hour labor. Baby Tate arrived on June 18. “My husband doesn’t normally comment about a lot of things,” notes Karlee, “So it’s fun to hear him telling people about our experience. He says ‘the whole experience, everything, was great.’ He stayed overnight with me in the hospital both nights and said he was very comfortable.” Of course, because of the pandemic, no visitors were allowed in the hospital. Karlee remembers, “When Katie hugged, me it almost felt like having my mom there. She is just amazing.”
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