Photo Courtesy Dina Marie PhotographyBeing a mom is a busy job—just ask our hero Diane. She is the mommy of 2-year-old daughter Malia and recently born daughter No. 2, Devyn.
Like many little girls, Malia looks up to her mommy. Diane calls her “Mini Me” because she walks, talks and acts like a pint-sized mom. Diane says Mini Me loves to help play “mommy” with baby sister Devyn. And she wants to be a nurse, just like mommy.
When Diane’s not home practicing mommyology, she is at the MemorialCare Center for Women using both her nursing and maternal skills. As a postpartum nurse, she assists mothers of newborns with everything from diaper changes to proper “latching” during breastfeeding. Diane says being a postpartum nurse is good for her heart: It allows her to make the joyous occasion of childbirth even more special by helping mothers bond with their babies.
“Here at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach, we practice ‘couplet’ care, which means one nurse tends to mother and baby as a single unit,” says Diane, who has been a nurse for four years. “It’s such a happy time in everyone’s life when a baby is born here. I feel proud to share my experiences and help facilitate the bonding process between mother and baby.”
Diane says that thanks to her experience in mommyology, she sympathizes with what her patients are going through and is able to provide a helping hand and a lending ear to her fellow mothers.
Because Diane is not only a mommyologist at home, but one of many great postpartum nurses at the MemorialCare Center for Women, she is our hero.