Newborn's Miraculous Birth Inspires Gift for Future Nurses

Over her 35 years working in nursing, Salisbury University alumna Tracy Tracy ’85 has a lot of stories to tell. However, when she thinks about the moments that have defined her life as a nurse, there is one story she remembers well.

In 2005, a pregnant mother came into the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center where Tracy worked as a staff nurse. She wasn’t in labor, and the nursing team detected a healthy fetus with a normal heart rate. Just as they were about to send her home, the fetal heart rate dropped suddenly.

Luckily, the team was there to see it, and the mother was rushed to the operating room to perform a rescue cesarean section. The baby was delivered quickly, but by the time the team got the newborn onto the radiant warmer, they couldn’t detect a heart rate. The resuscitation continued for a prolonged period of time—longer than would be normal—but the team continued their rescue efforts, knowing that just minutes beforehand they had evidence of a normal fetus.

Finally, the newborn’s heart started its own rhythm.

“We were criticized at the time for being ‘too heroic,’” Tracy said. “When a resuscitation is sustained for that long, there is the potential for brain damage. The baby may always need to be ventilated or have other limitations. But with the evidence we had, I knew we couldn’t give up.”

Two months later, the mother returned to the hospital with her baby for a breastfeeding support group.

“I remember it so clearly. One of my co-workers tapped me on the shoulder, pointed to her and said, ‘I think that’s your baby,’” Tracy said. “Her mom was looking for us. She came around the desk, hugged us and thanked us for not giving up on her baby.”

Tracy got the chance to meet the baby she helped rescue—a little girl named Ellie. After two months, Ellie had gotten her feeding tube taken out, was responding to regular milestones and had a lot of normal functions.

“Although there was criticism about the prolonged resuscitation effort, her mother’s take is that because of what we did, she has a daughter,” Tracy said.

Over the past 16 years, Tracy has maintained a relationship with Ellie and her parents. She has been able to see Ellie grow into a vibrant and caring young girl who plays piano, does school plays and hangs out with her friends like any normal teenager would.

Ellie’s miraculous birth and life has inspired Tracy to establish the E.R. Andreen Nursing Scholarship Endowment in her honor. The fund will provide renewable scholarships to junior- and senior-level students of SU’s Nursing Program who demonstrate financial need. The scholarship will ensure that SU can continue to provide the nursing profession with clinical nurses who will meet their defining moments, much like the team who saved Ellie.

Tracy said she is many things: a wife, mother, grandmother, member of her church, U.S. Army veteran, an athlete and more. But near the top of her list, she is a nurse.

“You don’t give 35 years—the nights and the weekends and the extra hours—just for the paycheck,” Tracy said. “SU’s Nursing Program was and still is an amazing program. I want to encourage young people who see this as the way they want to live.”

Tracy said she’s fortunate to be able to work with 4-5 SU alumni in her current job as a charge nurse. She says that while her team has performed all kinds of feats in the last 16 years, the story of Ellie’s birth is one of their defining moments.

“When I have to leave my family on Christmas morning to get called into the triage, I know this kind of story is what we do that for,” Tracy said. “As nurses, we have moments of frustration or weariness, but if you think about the potential of what you have to give, it’s worth it—and Ellie is a touchstone of that potential.”

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