How a special delivery turned a patient into a colleague: Lakeview Hospital
Every once in a while, you see or experience something so special that you want to be a part of it. This is what happened to Melissa Pare, a 34-year-old RN from North Salt Lake, who joined the Med/Surg team at Lakeview through the new grad/residency program on September 22, 2025. Melissa delivered her now 2-year-old son at Lakeview, and the minute she decided to return to work, she knew that’s where she wanted to be.
“Initially, I chose Lakeview because that’s where my midwife delivers,” Melissa says. “But what I saw and experienced during my time there really made an impression on me. I told my husband that if I ever went back to work, it wouldn’t be at just any hospital. I wanted to be at Lakeview because of the expert care I received and because of the way the labor and delivery team spoke so highly of their jobs and their colleagues. Many of them had been there for a long time. In my experience, not a lot of people in hospitals do that.”
A positively different childbirth experience
Melissa’s previous delivery, with her 3-year-old daughter, had been in another state and with another hospital system.
“Delivering at Lakeview was a completely different experience — for the better — than when I had my little girl,” says Melissa. “At Lakeview, they respected my choices, and they respect the mom and baby bonding time. I didn’t get that when I had my daughter.”
The fact that Melissa speaks so positively of her birth experience is even more remarkable given the fact that she had a potentially serious postpartum complication. Called a retained placenta, this condition affects about three of every 100 pregnancies and can cause infection and severe bleeding.
“My baby was fine, but my placenta wasn’t coming out like it should,” Melissa says. “It was breaking up in pieces and the rest was stuck to my uterus. The team just knew when I’d had enough and when it was time to take me to surgery — just like when they knew exactly when to call my midwife. They were so professional and caring. I had a full DNC and stayed at Lakeview for three days.”
Maternity care that supports moms’ choices
Melissa will tell you that there truly is a difference in childbirth experiences from one hospital to another.
“Unlike my previous maternity stay, I felt like I had consistent care from the same caregivers,” she says. “I’ll never forget how kind everybody was. I had a lot of help with breastfeeding. I’d had a lot of trouble with my daughter, so the breastfeeding specialist spent a lot of time with me. I wanted nothing to do with the breast pump, so instead of trying to convince me to use it, she spent so much time showing me ways to do it without using the pump. She was so kind and patient.”
On top of that, Melissa and her husband were surprised with a steak dinner served just for the two of them. “It was great!” she says.
Two weeks after coming home, Melissa received another surprise from Lakeview.
“A care package was delivered with all kinds of goodies from the labor and delivery nurses,” she says. “Along with a nice note telling me how strong they thought I was. It was really special.”
Melissa, who was 50/50 on having a third child before her postpartum complication with baby number two, says she’s probably done having children.
“But if I was going to have more kids, I would totally have another baby at Lakeview,” says Melissa. “I wanted to be a part of that.”
She’s ok with working there instead, though.
“I didn’t have my eye on working right away after my son was born,” she says. “But I told my husband, if there’s ever an opening at Lakeview, I want it.”