For This Family, Baystate's Outstanding Obstetrical Care Spans Generations

Growing up as twin sisters and best friends who did nearly everything together, it’s not surprising that Emily Warner and Elizabeth Godin would both deliver their first child within weeks of each other at Baystate Medical Center.

The twins’ connection to Baystate runs deep. Their mother Gretchen (Warner) Hebert was also born at Baystate and worked in Baystate’s Department of Surgery for many years. Gretchen recalls that her daughters were two of the very last babies born in Baystate’s Wesson Maternity Hospital before the Wesson Women and Infants’ building opened in the 1990s. She’ll never forget the room full of supportive team members who helped deliver the twins by C-section, and the encouragement from nurses as she adjusted to breastfeeding her newborns.

Over the years as the twins grew up in Wilbraham, Baystate Health was always their go-to health system for both emergency and routine care, so naturally when the sisters learned they were both expecting their first child due within a month of each other in 2019, there was no question they’d deliver their babies at Baystate. “I’ve always wanted to have my children at Baystate, as that was where I was born,” says Emily. Emily’s daughter Grace was born on July 7, just two weeks after Elizabeth’s son Owen took his first breath on June 25.

“We had such a wonderful experience when I had Owen,” Elizabeth says. “Everyone truly went above and beyond, and in our eyes, they made us feel like VIPs.”

Elizabeth remembers her Labor and Delivery nurse’s caring manner when Owen was born with an umbilical cord issue and the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) needed to be called. “Naturally, it was a scary moment, but she stayed calm, explained everything clearly, and made sure we felt reassured the entire time,” she says. Thankfully Owen’s issue quickly resolved, and Elizabeth was grateful for not just compassionate, patient-centered care, but access to the region’s only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, should it have been needed.

When Elizabeth returned to Baystate to have her second son in 2023, her nurse remembered her. “Even though she was not assigned to our care that time, she stopped by just to say hello,” she says. “It was such a thoughtful gesture and truly showed how much the staff genuinely care about their patients and families.”

Today cousins Owen and Grace are best friends finishing up first grade in Wilbraham, where they ride the school bus together and will be celebrating turning 7 with a joint birthday party since their birthdays are so close together.

“Thankfully, neither of them has needed to return to Baystate,” says Elizabeth, “but it’s comforting to know that if they ever did, they would be in such amazing hands.”