“My daughter Megan just delivered a baby at Speare and had the most wonderful experience. She was going to have her baby at LRGH and was one of those shocked to learn she would not deliver there. She was scheduled to go to Concord, but two days after her due date was told that her insurance wouldn’t be accepted there. That wasn’t a great introduction to Speare, but it all went up hill from there — as she met and was so professionally handled by the staff in what turned out to be a very challenging delivery. You now have a family singing the praises of Speare. Thought you’d like to know.”

The crib was set up. The bags were packed. She was seven days past her due date. The only uncertainty had been where she could give birth. And this morning she woke up in labor.

At the start of her pregnancy, Meg McLean and her husband, Alex, began reading parenting books and preparing the baby room. Everything was going along dreamily. Six months into her pregnancy, however, she learned that her local hospital would no longer deliver babies, and she would be going to Concord. Two days after her due date things took another turn when Concord Hospital declined her insurance. She didn’t know at the time that she was about to have a complicated delivery. But if there is a silver lining, hers was Speare.

Meg was seen at Plymouth OB/GYN at Speare the same day she called them. Dr. Ebner took time to explain and demonstrate all the things that could happen during her delivery. She was given a tour of the birthing suite and found it warm and equipped with all she needed for a safe and comfortable delivery.

“I was so stressed out when I got there, but everyone was so nice I couldn’t help but feel better,” says Meg. “They even had my birthing plan in place!”

She went home with her spirits up.

“It happened so fast,” Meg remembers. “I woke up the next morning with one contraction after another — each one under 40 seconds as we made the twenty-minute drive to Speare. I was in so much pain; I would have never made it through an hour-long drive to Concord.”

Dr. Blue, a new physician at Plymouth OB/GYN, was on duty. Meg’s uterus was contracting so fast that it was affecting the baby’s heartbeat and both of their oxygen levels.

“Dr. Blue was so calm, confident and soothing that I didn’t realize anything was wrong,” says Meg. Ashley Francis, APRN, from Plymouth Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine was also there, as is protocol at Speare when a baby may need extra care. They explained that due to the lack of oxygen, they needed to get her baby out fast. Meg recognized the tools that Dr. Ebner had shown her the day before and was not concerned as the medical team jumped into action. Daughter Marley was born at 12:51pm. Ashley swept Marley away to be carefully examined and monitored. Both mom and baby were fine.

In the end, Meg says Speare was the very best thing that could have happened.

The young McLean family were so pleased with Ashley, that they now use Plymouth Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine as Marley’s physician group. “It’s nice to go there now because they really know my little family,” says Meg.

As for the future, Meg says they will definitely go to Dr. Blue and Speare again. Next time, however, they will plan on it.