As the CoxHealth Ozark clinic manager, Michaela Davis has spent years reassuring families they are in good hands. It wasn’t until her own daughter was admitted to the
@STLChildrens at CoxHealth NICU that she experienced firsthand what those words truly meant.
“As an employee, you’re always telling families they’re in the best place possible,” Michaela says. “Experiencing that care myself as a parent gave those words a whole new meaning.”
Their daughter arrived right on time, but unexpected breathing complications quickly changed the family’s plans, leading to a stay in the NICU.
“You go in with this whole grand plan of how you’re going to have a baby and bring them home ... and that gets ripped away from you,” Michaela says. “You see your baby go to the NICU, and it’s hard.”
Each evening, Michaela faced one of the hardest parts of the journey: walking out of the NICU without her daughter.
“I know that when I leave her the nurses are great. They call me all the time with cute little updates of what she’s doing. They make it fun, and they decorate her bed with a different theme every day.”
The time spent in the NICU has also unveiled the behind-the-scenes moments Michaela didn’t always see as an employee.
“As an employee, I understood the care we provide. As a parent, I saw all the extra things families don’t always see, the thoughtful details, the constant communication and the teamwork happening behind the scenes,” says Michaela.
“There are nurses,
@washumedicine physicians, nurse practitioners and respiratory therapists — all of these departments are involved in one little patient,” she says. “They love her like she’s their own.”
Michaela says the collaboration with St. Louis Children’s at CoxHealth, powered by the medical expertise of WashU Medicine, gave her confidence that every possible resource was being considered.
“They weren’t just treating her. They were advocating for her,” she says.
Their daughter spent about a month in the NICU at St. Louis Children’s at CoxHealth before going home. As their family settles into life as a family of four, Michaela says one lesson stands above the rest:
“You simply can’t go through a journey like this alone. Whether you’re a parent or a caregiver, it’s important to lean on the people around you and accept the support that’s offered,” she says. “Some of the people who helped us most were the families sitting just a few doors away, facing challenges of their own. Those connections reminded us we weren’t alone, and that made all the difference.”

ALT A smiling young woman with long dark hair, wearing a white t-shirt, affectionately cradles a newborn baby in a patterned onesie. The baby's eyes are closed and her mouth is slightly open. Medical equipment is blurred in the background.

ALT A newborn baby sleeps soundly, swaddled in a cream blanket in a hospital crib. A nasal cannula is taped to its cheek, with medical tubing nearby. The baby rests on a white blanket with cartoon lions and \"Dandie-LION\" text, connected to medical wires. Light floral and plaid bedding is visible.

ALT A man with dark hair and a mustache, wearing a white t-shirt and hospital wristband, gently cradles a newborn baby wrapped in a striped blanket. He gazes down at the baby in a hospital room, with medical equipment and an infant warmer behind them.

ALT A young boy in a red shirt looks lovingly at a baby wearing a light pink onesie with a nasal cannula.