CHRISTUS Spohn nurse delivers baby in back of buggy

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - While in the Philippines, Melanie Angeles, a Registered Nurse in CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), found herself, to the benefit of one pregnant woman, in the right place at the right time. 
 
Angeles’ trip to the Philippines was not a joyous one.  She was there to say goodbye to her dying mother and help with funeral arrangements. During the visit, her mother passed away.  It was while at her mother’s funeral service that Angeles encountered an emotional scene.  Just outside the wake service, a buggy pulled up to the chapel with a lady in advanced active labor. 
 
With her advanced medical training and NICU experience, Angeles stepped into action and helped deliver a baby girl.  She worked to stimulate the baby’s breathing and to keep her warm. The mother of the baby was hypertensive and bleeding heavily.
 
Angeles told the driver of the buggy, to take the mother and baby to a “Lying-In Center” for medical care. She accompanied the mother to the center and with the help of the father of the baby she carried the mother into the center.
 
Angeles placed the baby under a heat lamp; the baby was cyanotic—a condition in which the skin takes on a bluish color because there is not enough oxygen in the blood. Angeles continued to rub the baby until the child cried and became pink.
 
Angeles later returned to the chapel where her deceased mother was being waked. After the prayer service she went to a store and bought clothes for the baby; the family was poor and this was their ninth child.  Later, Angeles found out that the parents of the baby girl named her Fidela after Angeles’ mother.
 
“I plan to visit this special baby and her family every time I go back to the Philippines,” Angeles said. “The experience of helping to deliver the baby was a privilege and a blessing. This trip was a true display of what is the bitter sweet cycle of life.”
 
The trip is also something she had to tell her friends back home including her colleagues at CHRISTUS Spohn South.   
 
“The young woman was a complete stranger and Melanie, in all her grief, had the grace and presence of mind to calmly bring a new life into world even as she was sending one out,” said Mathew A Ward, a NICU Nurse at CHRISTUS Spohn South.
 
 “I can’t help but think her mother’s spirit guided Melanie to be there to help that poor woman deliver her baby,” Mike Howard, Angeles’ Shift Coordinator said.    “Many poor people in the Philippines don’t get medical care so Melanie was a true blessing to this woman.  It was fortunate that there just happened to be a NICU nurse. ”
 
As a result of Angeles’ actions, her co-workers have recognized her for a CHRISTUS Spohn Mission Moment. The recognition is for CHRISTUS Spohn Associates who exemplify CHRISTUS Spohn’s Mission of extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.  Angeles’ co-workers believe she extended the ministry way beyond our ordinary borders.