Now she’s fighting for moms and babies to get the support they’re missing Stephanie Roberson wants NICU moms to get the health care, paid leave and therapy they need. Here's how she's making it happen. _Mothering America is a regular column from_ Motherly _and Chamber of Mothers sharing moms’ stories from across the country, showing the power of coming together to make change. Each piece is part of a larger effort to ensure every mother and family in the U.S. has the support and care to be well._ Stephanie Roberson’s second pregnancy was completely normal: Every ultrasound was fine, and all of her test results were good.
Then, as she lay down next to her 2-year-old to put him to bed one night, her water broke. She was 24 weeks pregnant. She walked into the bathroom, put a towel under her legs, and called her doctor, who told her she needed to get to a hospital with a higher level of NICU care.
Roberson’s husband was traveling for work, so she called her neighbor to stay with her son while her mother—who happened to be visiting—drove her to the hospital. She tried not to scare her son while packing up, but she was panicked: How would a baby survive being born right now? At the hospital, staff told her she’d need to stay until the baby was born.
She was put on bed rest, and a neonatologist came to talk through survival statistics. Roberson wrapped her head around the possibilities: a baby who didn’t live, a medically fragile child, a high likelihood of vision, hearing, and lung issues, suppressed immunity. After 13 days on bed rest at the hospital, Roberson went into labor at 25 weeks and 6 days.
Her husband was home with their 2-year-old, and the baby came quickly. Myles had strong Apgar scores, too. Sometimes he required physical stimulation to start breathing again.
The unknown was the hardest part. She watched one family bring in extended relatives to say goodbye to a baby who wasn’t going to make it. During his time in the NICU, Myles didn’t need any surgeries, and he never needed to be intubated.
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