Allison Mitchell Lee, 9 months, enjoys a taste of ice cream provided by her mother Catherine Mitchell (left) while being held by MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital certified nurse midwife Stacey J. Rees. Alumni and staff of the hospital’s maternity ward gathered at Round Top Ice Cream in Damariscotta on Sunday, July 20 to connect over sundaes and meet other children who were born at the Damariscotta hospital and their families. (Molly Rains photo)
Families who welcomed loved ones into the world at Damariscotta’s MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital gathered at Round Top Ice Cream on Sunday, July 20 to connect with other families and the medical professionals who were among the first people to meet their children.
The reunion was the first of its kind to be hosted among Lincoln Hospital staff and families, according to Lincoln Hospital
Specialty Practice Manager Jennifer Brookes. Staff said they hoped the celebration would highlight the birthing center’s connections to the local community and bring families together.
“Part of family medicine is being part of the community, and that’s one of the most special parts,” said Dr. Samantha Culver, a family medicine practitioner at MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital, formerly known as Miles Memorial Hospital and LincolnHealth’s Miles Campus.
Culver said she was proud to practice family medicine and obstetrics, because it means she works with patients across different important life phases. An event like Sunday’s reunion at Round Top Ice Cream, according to Culver and other Lincoln Hospital staff, emphasized the most unique elements of practicing medicine in a tight-knit community.
“We do care for folks during pregnancy and then after. We can be their doctor for their whole life, and see them born as well. In a community that is so close-knit, it means a lot,” she said.
Carolyn Boyd, a medical assistant, reunited with Ashley Moore, whom she has helped support through three pregnancies. Moore’s youngest, Ayden Moore – who is 3 months old – also attended the reunion, looking around curiously as Boyd held him in her arms.
Boyd said she’s worked with mothers and infants at Lincoln Hospital for 15 years, meaning that some of the children she once saw through their earliest days are now growing up.
“It’s wild to see some of the faces that I helped to take care of now as teenagers,” she said.
Families enjoyed free ice cream cones and sundaes at the reunion, as well as coloring books and children’s stories to entertain small attendees. Halfway through the celebration, however, the sky opened up with thunder and a torrential downpour.
From beneath the Lincoln Hospital tent, Catherine Mitchell and Mike Lee, who welcomed their daughter Allison Lee at the Damariscotta hospital in October, said they didn’t mind the rain.
“It’s great to see so many people turn out despite this thunderstorm. It’s kind of a testament to what everyone thinks of the unit,” Mitchell said.
“We have a great appreciation for the welcoming and warm community,” Mike Lee said.
Allison Lee didn’t seem to mind the rain, either – wearing a snappy MaineHealth Obstetrics and Gynecology bib, she was happily distracted by vanilla ice cream.
Brookes said she’d welcomed a steady stream of families to the ice cream reunion over the course of the afternoon and was happy with the turnout.
Brookes hopes to make the family reunion a yearly tradition, she said, to continue bringing together Lincoln Hospital maternity ward alumni of all ages with the health care workers who helped bring them into the world.
