ICU Nurse Named Godmother After Woman on 'Highest Form of Life Support' Gives Birth
Caitlyn Obrock is a 27-year-old ICU nurse, guardian angel and godmother who works at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.
Last September, 28-year-old Monique Jones came in with severe COVID-19 symptoms and was put in the ICU.
“I wasn’t feeling good,” Jones said, according to CNN. “I had shortness of breath and I had [a] fever.”
It was hard for Obrock not to feel a strong sense of compassion for her, especially since Jones was also 26 weeks pregnant.
“With Monique being pregnant, she’s only a year older than I am, I just felt, like, a strong connection with wanting her to do well,” Obrock said. “She truthfully was a light to me. You know, we have to hold out hope.”
So she battled for Jones, doing all she could to give her strength. On Sept. 6, with Jones’ condition worsening, she was intubated and put on “the highest form of life support,” the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO).
But Obrock still held out hope. She would whisper motivational sentiments to Jones while working with her. She prayed. And when Jones went in for an emergency c-section, she promised that if Jones made it through she’d throw her an epic baby shower.
On Sept. 23, Jones’ baby Zamyrah was born. At 29 weeks, she weighed a mere 2 pounds, 5 ounces and was whisked to the NICU at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Jones wouldn’t get to hold her baby for nearly a month later, but in the meantime, Obrock made sure she had photos of her beautiful baby girl in her room.
After the c-section, Jones began to improve as doctors had hoped she would. She was removed from the ECMO. She started relearning how to walk. And on Oct. 20, she got to hold her baby.
Obrock, true to her word, planned and held a huge baby shower for Jones thanks to generous donations from friends and family. The two have become fast friends, texting daily.
It was only fitting, then, that Jones chose Obrock to be Zamyrah’s godmother.
“A godmother to me is like a support system,” Jones said. “And I felt like she fought for me … When I was in my hospital bed, I felt some type of positivity around like a guardian angel.”
“I never really felt that special to somebody,” she added to CBS News as she wiped away tears. “I really needed somebody like her.”
After much inquiry, a GoFundMe was set up to help out with the medical bills from Jones’ hospital stay. Her soon-to-be husband, Jamez Prewitt, wrote that they never expected people to be so moved by their story.
“We really weren’t looking for people to donate nor were we even expecting her story to be such a huge thing around the world,” he wrote. “So this is for the people who have been asking about donating to her and our beautiful baby girl.
“Were really not expecting to much because we are more than grateful just for Monique making it through covid while pregnant with our child. Please feel free to share if you would like and links to her story are all up and down my Timeline on Facebook.”
So far, the family has been gifted over $7,600 — but the real gift is the friendship that was forged between Jones and Obreck, and it’s a gift that will keep on giving.
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