Nurses go above and beyond to help their patients every single day. Their jobs are far more complicated than many people realize, as not only do they help people who are in pain, they also comfort the heartbroken even when they are not asked to do so.

Any mother who has given birth knows just how dedicated nurses in the maternity ward are. Many moms never forget the nurse who was by their side guiding them through the childbirth process.

Mommy blogger Jill Krause, who is a mother of four, was so touched by the help her nurses gave her after she gave birth that she decided to thank them in a very special way. Jill came upon a photo that was taken by birth photographer Katie Lacer. The powerful and gritty image captures what the days following birth are like for moms, and shows how truly dedicated maternity nurses are.

Jill decided to share the photo on her blog along with a caption that has brought many moms to tears.

“I’ll never forget the faces of the nurses who followed me into the bathroom after delivering each baby. That moment when I was so vulnerable, so tired, scared, shaky. My swollen belly deflating, and my modesty long gone. They treated me with such kindness and dignity,” Jill wrote. “For me, these have been moments of empowerment and confirmation that I have a real village to help me, even if just for that little bit of time in a bathroom, on a toilet, while a kind nurse shows me how to put an ice pad on my mesh undies.”

“This photo by my friend MommaKT Shoots just takes me right back. Like, I can smell the Dermaplast. Let’s hear it for the nurses and the doulas and anyone else who shows us how to make ice pad underwear (or helps with that first shower post c-section!),” she continued. “When I was pushing, I’ll never forget pulling my face away from my nurse’s chest to see her scrub top SOAKED with my sweat and tears. I was like, ‘Oh my god I’m so sorry!’ And she went,’Baby, this is life all over my shirt. Nowhere else I’d rather be. Now let’s get that baby out.’ I loved her. I can’t wait to be a nurse.”

“And here’s to the nurses who practically carry you to the toilet after a c-section…and hand you a popsicle after to celebrate your first post-surgery walk,” Jill concluded. “I still feel bad for trying to punch the nurse who was pressing down on my uterus right after my c-section. It was a fight or flight reflex to the pain. She caught my fist with one hand, kept right on working with the other. She was a badass.”

Jill’s post has gone viral, as mothers all over the world can relate to it!

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