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Hillsborough mom names daughter after HCA Florida Brandon nurse who helped during high-risk pregnancy

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Published  June 4, 2025 10:38pm EDT
Hillsborough County
FOX 13 News
Mother, nurse share unbreakable bond

Mother, nurse share unbreakable bond

Jennifer Kveglis reports.

The Brief

    • A Hillsborough County mom who grew a tight bond with an HCA Florida Brandon nurse during a high-risk pregnancy named her daughter after her.
    • The nurse was there with her through critical moments of her high-risk pregnancy and birth.
    • After that, the mother gave birth again recently and named her new daughter after the nurse who helped her along the way.

BRANDON, Fla. - A Hillsborough County mom who had a high-risk pregnancy named her daughter after an HCA Florida Brandon nurse who she grew a tight bond with.

The backstory:

The close relationship between Patricia Bery and Laurie Van Damme, an HCA Florida Brandon perinatal nurse navigator, started with a simple hug.

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"I remember when the staff came in," Bery said. "Everyone was kind of staring at me, telling me this information, and I'm crying hysterically." 

Bery said that's what happened when she learned she had a high-risk pregnancy last year. Her daughter Noriah's kidneys were not growing at the same rate.

"Laurie comes to me, approaches me, and gives me a hug. Took me in the room, allowed me to calm myself down, she gave me some grace, compassion," she said. 

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From there, Bery said their bond became nothing short of unbreakable.

"[Van Damme] assured me that moving forward all of the ultrasound appointments, she would be there," she said. 

Over time, the two grew close over their shared faith. 

"She had a friend whose child also had one kidney and was perfectly healthy as well," she added. "Laurie is also a mother, and she was able to help me understand my daughter's situation."

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In May of last year, Van Damme received a panicked call from Bery. Bery was rear-ended and her car was totaled.

"Immediately, my belly hit the steering wheel. Couldn't feel my baby," she explained. "We went to the emergency room, and they discharged me but never attended to my baby."

Van Damme told Bery to leave that hospital and come to HCA Florida Brandon to get checked out. Bery did and learned she was having contractions and high blood pressure. 

She was induced into labor and gave birth to Noriah who is now happy and healthy.

Dig deeper:

Not long after, Bery was pregnant again and thinking of baby names with her partner, James Tolbert. 

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"I wanted to name my child with an N, something similar to Noriah and James goes, 'Are you going to call Ms. Laurie again' I was like, 'Oh you're being funny. Yeah, but I'll call Laurie. Matter of fact, I'll call the baby Nhori.'"

So, she did. 

Bery gave birth on Wednesday, and Van Damme surprised her, being there for her C-section procedure. Van Damme said this is why she got into this field in the first place. 

"She had previously said that naming this baby was the easiest decision ever, because she wanted this little girl to have a piece of someone with such compassion and such goodness and kindness in her, and I felt that in that moment when she was holding this little baby," she said. 

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis. 

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