When it comes to Sisters of Charity Hospital, Lindsay Riggs has declared, “There is no other place we would trust to take care of us and our precious little newborns.”
If you’re active on social media or maybe just plugged into life in WNY, there’s a chance you know Lindsay. She and her husband, Beau, are the local couple behind @buffalovebirds – a locally-run and widely-known social media account.
For those who are unfamiliar, Lindsay and Beau routinely post to their blog, Facebook, and [currently] more than 17K Instagram followers about home life, local businesses, and their growing family’s ongoing adventures.
And when it comes to childbirth, motherhood, and the postpartum period, Lindsay has accumulated quite the loyal following with her willingness to be unabashedly honest about it all. With childbirth specifically, part of Lindsay’s story has been her labor and delivery experiences at the hospital where she chose to have all three of her kids: Sisters of Charity Hospital.
Beau and Lindsay Riggs, the creators of Buffalovebirds, with their three children Chloe, Jack Fox, and Zander.
At Sisters Hospital, Nurses That Make the Hospital Feel Like Home
In the past, Lindsay has been quick to highlight the hardworking nurses at Sisters Hospital, and the role they play in the labor and delivery experience. “They are the ones who are there from the moment you are admitted, to the moment when you leave,” she says. “They’re there to help with all your discomfort and needs.”
Photo by Moonshine Studio of Photography, used with permission from Buffalovebirds.
“Sisters is doing it right with their nursing staff,” Lindsay had written online after the birth of her second baby and first son, Jack Fox. “I never felt like ‘just another patient’ or a burden. Two young nurses, Brittany and Lindsay, helped me shower, get re-dressed, step into my underwear, set my pillows, checked my pads…”
The Riggs’ experience with the Sisters staff has been personal enough that nurses from the birth of their first child, Chloe, remembered them and came to say hello. “You feel like family when you are only there for a couple of days,” Lindsay said.
Constant Support, However Your Birth Story at Sisters Hospital Plays Out
When Lindsay arrived at Sisters in 2017, in labor with Chloe, she said she was “determined to have a natural birth – with no epidural.”
As she labored (and now recounts laboring through three shifts of nurses), the nurses were kind and supportive of Lindsay’s original birth plan. “Each nurse I encountered had different techniques and ideas to help me get through the pain, and move the baby along,” she said. Still, the prolonged labor began to wear Lindsay down. She needed someone to tell her it would all be okay – and that’s exactly what happened.
“It was the nurse that told me, ‘Honey. It’s okay to get the epidural,’” Lindsay remembers. “She was so maternal and sweet, and I felt at ease getting one.”
When it came time for babies number two and three, Lindsay’s birth plans were greatly different from the first time around.
“No one steered me from my choices or made me feel less than,” she says. “The only time I was convinced of something different [than my birth plan] was when it was for my health and the baby…and I am grateful for that.”
The Space at Sisters Hospital Works for [and with] You
Photo by Moonshine Studio of Photography, used with permission from Buffalovebirds.
Recently renovated, Sisters Hospital’s labor and delivery units were updated in 2019. Lindsay was actually able to experience delivery both before and after the renovations were made. “The updated space is so welcoming and warm,” she says.
What at Sisters really stuck out to Lindsay? “I know it sounds funny, but I loved the bathroom,” she says. “I didn’t feel like I was in a hospital. It felt like a hotel bathroom because of the nice lighting.”
Life, Motherhood, and Delivering at Sisters Hospital
Quotes from this interview were taken from the Buffalovebirds blog. You can read honest articles from two of WNY’s most well-loved parents by clicking here.
To see more of Lindsay and her family, follow @buffalovebirds on social media.
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