By Janet Stoica

“Baby deliveries are not like what we see on TV,” said Natalie Dalimonte, a Labor and Delivery Registered Nurse at one of the largest hospitals in Atlanta, Georgia.“Every birth is different for each mom and her newborn. Our staff has to adapt the birthing procedure for each patient’s medical safety. We try to advocate for every patient to make them as comfortable as possible. A lot of birth trauma comes from patients who don’t feel a part of their final medical decisions and we help them understand why certain procedures are recommended. We want the patient to feel the entire birthing process is part of them.”

Ms. Dalimonte is the daughter of Tammi and Gary Dalimonte of Pomfret, Connecticut and has a younger sister, Katherine. Natalie enthusiastically stated that from a young age she had a really strong belief in women’s health, family planning, and birthing while also assisting a vulnerable population. She acquired her bachelor’s degree from St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont where she majored in biology and minored in chemistry. As she had participated in a study-abroad program while at St. Michael’s and attended the University of Westminster in London, England, she opted to apply to their master’s degree program upon her graduation from St. Michael’s.

 “I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in London,” she said. “I made many friends from different countries including Albania and Portugal whom I still keep in contact with.” Natalie graduated from Westminster with her Master’s Degree in Molecular Biology while concentrating on the genetics of molecular biology. While preparing her thesis project, however, she realized that spending time in a lab every day was not quite her ultimate destination. 

“I opted to enroll in Atlanta’s Emory University, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. After passing my nursing boards, I began working in the labor and delivery department of one of Atlanta’s largest hospitals. Going to nursing school was very intentional,” said Ms. Dalimonte. “I was just drawn to women’s health and the labor/delivery department. My master’s degree was genetic-based and perhaps in the future I will gravitate to a fertility clinic.”

While working in her current position Ms. Dalimonte has seen beautiful and successful births with and without epidural anesthesia usage. Epidurals are commonly used during childbirth to block pain. She has been a part of Caesarean Section births with operating room runs. “Some patients have been in labor for several hours,” she said, “and the mom might’ve been focused on a non-epidural birth but if we determine that an epi is a better choice and will prevent trauma, we will make every effort to educate the mom on the alternate choice to make her feel comfortable.”

Natalie described a birth where a mom had an inducement but also wanted a natural delivery. (An inducement is a method of making labor begin.) She described how the hospital staff accommodated her but when the baby was born, it was in a stunned state requiring aggressive stimulation from the staff. The babe came through beautifully but the neonatal ICU and respiratory teams came in to assist. Another experience on Natalie’s watch was when a new mom was at full-term and her water (amniotic fluid that the baby floats in while inside the mom’s uterus) had broken but she wasn’t quite ready for the birthing process to begin. The dad was about to take a nap and Natalie took her dinner break only to be quickly called into the delivery room for the rapid birth. All went smoothly. “So with both scenarios, my role of being there assisting and advising the parents is the best,” said Natalie, “letting our patients know that all went well and that their newborn is doing fine is very rewarding.” Her current hospital is a Level III Neonatal ICU which assists in high-risk deliveries. There are 250-300 births per month.

Ms. Dalimonte has recently decided to move back to New England to be closer to her family and has accepted a similar position at a hospital in the Greater Boston area. 

“I love what I do and my additional interests are in climate change and green energy. I see new life being brought into this world daily and I want to make our world a better place making moms’ experiences as positive as I can. I credit my mom and dad for everything I’ve become. They showed me a strong work ethic and the importance of enjoying your job. They’ve always been there for me. My sister Katherine and I have been good sounding boards for each other. I love her. She’s doing great things and works in the finance sector in Greater Boston. I also have to credit my Auntie Mal Dalimonte. She’s been my support system too. She traveled to London to help me check out my grad school and helped me find an apartment while going to school there. My family has been a good strong support system that has always given me the courage to try new things and to take challenges and work to be successful.” 

Contact Janet:  [email protected]