Kanika Thornton

Maternal Child Health patient at Highland Hospital

My experience being pregnant and preparing for my new baby, it’s been wonderful. This is my second child, and the things that I have experienced are new because of the length between my new son and my older son, who is 8. Every day, it’s something new and I enjoy every minute of it.

I was born here at Highland Hospital in 1994, my first son was born here in 2011, and my new son now will be born here. Hopefully in seven days or less. To give birth in the same place I was born, it feels like family.

The midwives are helpful because I don’t really have a lot of people around me to call on. The care is wonderful. They treat everybody equally. They welcome you in. They always ask you how your day was. They are very talkative and they’re very helpful. They guide you through a lot. If your partner has questions, they will answer as well.

Highland Hospital embraces any family member, anybody welcome in any part of the labor. My grandmother, Dorothy, cut the umbilical cord for my first son. It was amazing. She was so excited, and she was there the whole time that I was in labor. She rubbed my back. She nursed me. They actually provided a bed for her, as well.

Highland Hospital is a perfect place to give birth to your kids. It’s good staff, good everything. It’s a really welcoming place. Highland is a really good place not just for birthing, but for anything. I don’t think the community would be the same if Highland wasn’t here.

I just hope that I have a good labor and hopefully everything goes well. I’m curious what my baby looks like. The first thing I will do is sniff his neck because I love the baby smell on their neck. The new baby smell, it smells so good. I can’t wait to hold him. I’ve been holding him for 9 months, going on 10, so I’m ready.