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Like many couples expecting their first child, Amanda and John Havey of Glassboro prepared for as many things as they could think of before the birth of their baby.
What they couldn’t have planned on was their son, Maxwell, being born at only twenty-seven weeks, weighing less than three pounds, and requiring a more than two-month stay in the Deborah F. Sager Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Inspira Vineland.
But Amanda said that the staff at Inspira, first in Mullica Hill and then in Vineland, were so “professional and reassuring” that they made an urgent and unnerving situation just a little bit less scary.
“None of this was part of our birth plan,” said 35-year-old Amanda, a production planner for a major automobile manufacturer in South Jersey.
Though she refers to herself as a “pretty private person,” Amanda wanted to voice how she feels about the doctors, nurses, and support staff at Inspira.
“I cannot imagine going through this in any place other than at Inspira in Vineland. I want the entire staff to know how much they mean to us.”
On December 3, 2024, in the early part of her third trimester, Amanda sensed that something was happening. She had been having some bleeding. Because she was not due to deliver for another twelve weeks, she and John, an emergency room registered nurse, went to Inspira Mullica Hill. There she was seen by her OB/GYN, Melissa Suarez, D.O., who had been providing Amanda’s pre-natal care.
“They took me up to labor and delivery to get checked out,” Amanda said. “There, they determined that I was having contractions and was four centimeters dilated. I was already in pre-labor at only 27 weeks and two days.”
The decision was made to transfer Amanda by ambulance to Inspira Vineland. There she was admitted under the care of OB/GYN Gail Burgey, M.D., and given medication to ensure the health of her baby and to slow down the labor process.
Amanda said that the staff at Labor and Delivery, Mother/Baby and, later, the NICU, were “awesome” and helped the soon-to-be parents understand all that was happening.
“The whole team was so conscious of this being our first child,” Amanda said. “They explained everything to us. Dr. Kavalla [neonatologist Raghava Kavalla, M.D.], helped manage our expectations and calm our fears.”
The goal was to keep Amanda in the hospital and let her pregnancy progress as normally as possible. Max, however, had other plans. Two days later, Amanda was ten centimeters dilated and was taken to the operating room for a C-section.
Maxwell Havey came into the world at a little after 3:15 a.m. on December 5, 2025. He weighed two pounds, twelve ounces and was delivered by Robin Meadows, M.D., and Alysha McFalls, D.O.
Amanda was able to go home after about 4 days, but Max would spend more than two months in the Vineland NICU. Amanda said that Max’s lengthy stay was made “as normal as something like this could be” by the unit’s staff.
“Everyone on the team, especially the NICU nurses, made it very clear that our questions were not a burden and we were never in the way. They explained what they were doing every time. Besides being dedicated to their jobs, the staff made us feel like they truly enjoy what they do for a living. It really helped that Dr. Kavalla was part of the team from day one.”
Besides being with Max in person, the Haveys took advantage of the AngelEye video system at Inspira Vineland, which let them see him in the NICU 24 hours a day. The HIPAA-compliant technology allows parents and loved ones to securely watch their newborn baby on their personal smartphone, tablet, computer or even large-screen television at their convenience.
“AngelEye was a real lifeline for us,” Amanda said.
When Max left the Vineland NICU he weighed eight pounds, eight ounces.
After another short stay at a different facility to address specific ophthalmologic issues, Max finally got to go home with Amanda and John in late February.
“He’s in the newborn stage still,” Amanda said in May. “He’s cooing and smiling and he’s over eighteen pounds now. He feels sturdier all the time.”
“I could name all the nurses and staff members that we worked with at Inspira, but I don’t want to miss anyone. I want them all to know how much they meant to us. They worked as one big team, in Mullica Hill and Vineland. They went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable. In the NICU, the babies are, of course, their priority, but they also were empathetic and positive. They kept telling us that we were going to be OK. That encouragement was invaluable. We were very blessed. Max was in the absolute best place for him. We are very grateful to have had this positive an experience.”
