Delivering hope: How MercyOne Maternal Transport Team made a difference for Jenna and her twins

Jenna McCready always dreamed of being a mom. So, when she discovered she was pregnant with twins, she couldn’t be more excited. Little did she know she’d be meeting her twin girls 14 weeks early and making MercyOne history as the first patient on the debut flight of the MercyOne Maternal Transport Team.  

It was a typical Monday morning when Jenna went in for her regularly scheduled ultrasound at MercyOne Cedar Falls Medical Center.  

“I had mentioned that over the weekend I felt like I couldn’t feel the twins moving as much. So, to make sure everything was OK, they did a stress test in addition to my ultrasound and found that everything was fine,” recalled Jenna, a Waverly, Iowa native.  

However, over the next few days, Jenna was feeling some abdominal pressure and cramping but figured it was nothing serious since she just got tested the day before. But when Thursday morning rolled around, Jenna, still not feeling great, decided to head to Cedar Falls.  

“They did a quick check and very calmly told me I needed to get to triage at MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center. They offered to transport me, but I needed to drive myself.  I needed some time alone to process everything,” Jenna said.  

The first flight 

When Jenna arrived at triage in Waterloo, she was four centimeters dilated. Both the doctors and Jenna knew they needed to get her to a hospital equipped to deliver 26-week-old babies.  

“I figured I’d be transported to Iowa City or Des Moines via ambulance, so when they told me Des Moines was going to come by helicopter, I was like whoa! Let’s pump the brakes! But the doctors explained that any bumps in the road could cause my water to break, which I did not want to happen.” 

Unbeknownst to Jenna, this was no ordinary helicopter. It was the debut flight of the statewide MercyOne Maternal Transport Team. A team made up of a flight pilot, a high-risk obstetric (HROB) nurse and a flight nurse, medic or a (ground) EMT/paramedic/HROB nurse.  

The helicopter is equipped with an external fetal heart monitor to watch the mother’s contractions and the baby's heart rate. While in the air, the transport team runs on Online Medical Control, allowing for communication with a MercyOne OB physician about the patient's care. The Maternal and NICU teams work together to ensure the safest care for mom and baby while in the air. And unlike other air services in Iowa, the MercyOne team is dispatched from a local dispatch center.   

“Honestly, I don’t remember much about the helicopter ride. I just remember feeling comforted that there was someone there monitoring me the whole time and the fear of ’are we going to make it’ leaving my mind.” 

‘The place to be’ 

Soon after arriving at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, Jenna had an emergency C-section and welcomed Magnolia and Stevie, only 2lbs each, into the world at 12:44 and 12:46 a.m. on Oct.18, 2024. Jenna describes her birth story as the most exhilarating, scary and exciting moment of her life. 

“All the MercyOne doctors and nurses have been incredible. I seriously do not have words for how incredible they have been from explaining everything, every step of the way before the birth to the care the girls have received in the NICU.”  

Since that groundbreaking, debut flight, Magnolia and Stevie have been growing healthy and strong in the MercyOne Children's Hospital NICU with Jenna and her husband, Kyle, staying close by at the Ronald McDonald House at MercyOne Children’s Hospital. Jenna truly believes her girls were meant to be there, receiving care at MercyOne. 

“I never knew that MercyOne Des Moines had such advanced and exceptional NICU care, but now I know MercyOne is the place to be.”  

On December 18, 2024, Magnolia and Stevie were stable enough to be transferred closer to home in Waterloo. And finally, after spending a few weeks in Waterloo, both girls were able to head home to Waverly, Iowa. A day that Jenna and Kyle McCready will remember forever.