Same nurse, two generations: A full-circle story at Touro

He recognized her voice immediately. It was the nurse who had delivered him three decades earlier. 

Devin Montgomery was asleep when he heard it. 

In the quiet of a hospital room at Touro, as he and his girlfriend waited to welcome their new baby girl, a nurse’s voice cut through the exhaustion of an already overwhelming stretch. Calm. Familiar. Impossible. 

Devin had been in a deep sleep, but the voice woke him up immediately. He opened his eyes, listened again, and sat up. 

“That sounds like Ms. Kathy,” he said. 

Moments later, he looked at the nurse’s name on the board: Katherine. 

And just like that, decades of family history came rushing back. 

1997: From delivery room nurse to lifelong connection 

Long before Devin was a father, he was a baby in a delivery room at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, welcomed into the world by a young labor and delivery nurse named Katherine Evans. 

At the time, Katherine was early in her nursing career. Over the years, her career would span labor and delivery, a high-risk unit at University Medical Center New Orleans, OB/GYN, and eventually postpartum care at Touro. The names, buildings, and systems around her would evolve, but what first drew her to nursing never changed: the chance to make a difference for mothers, babies, and families during some of the most important moments of their lives. 

Katherine doesn’t claim to remember every clinical detail from Devin’s birth nearly 30 years ago. But she does remember caring for his mother during that chapter of her life. More importantly, Devin’s family never forgot her. 

His family continued to run into Katherine around New Orleans, especially during Mardi Gras. Their families often found themselves in the same place for the Zulu parade, and if it was not there, it might be at the grocery store or around the neighborhood. The reunion became a familiar ritual. 

Every time, Devin’s mother, Lanise, would point Katherine out. “That’s your nurse,” she would tell him. 

As a child, Devin heard that story again and again. His mother made sure he knew exactly who Ms. Kathy was. As he got older, he began saying it himself. 

“No matter who I’m with, I always say, ‘That’s my nurse!’” he added. 

For Katherine, that kind of connection is rare. “A lot of patients leave, and life just moves on,” she said. “So to see someone grow up over the years like that, it’s really special.” 

In 2023, Devin found his own way into that same world of care, when he started working as a security officer at University Medical Center, part of LCMC Health. It is the same system that cared for him as a newborn and now serves families across the city through eight hospitals including University Medical Center and Touro. In New Orleans, the legacy of Charity still means something, and for Devin, that connection became even more personal once he joined the same broader community of care himself. 

As a hospital security officer, Devin is often one of the first people patients and families see and one of the last they encounter on the way out. Whether someone is arriving scared, grieving, overwhelmed, or simply unsure where to go, helping steady that first moment is part of the care experience too. 

Working within that hospital community already felt meaningful, Devin shared. He knew the history. He knew he was serving families in the same system that had once cared for him. What he did not know was how personal that connection was about to become. 

2025: The moment everything came full circle 

When Devin and his girlfriend, Unjay, arrived at Touro in June 2025 to welcome their daughter, Dakota, the road was already more complicated than they had imagined. 

Devin had been hospitalized at University Medical Center with norovirus and gastrointestinal illness when Unjay went to a routine doctor’s appointment. A short time later, she called him from the hospital in a gown to say she had been admitted too. There was a slit in her water bag, and suddenly both of them were in hospitals at the same time, trying to figure out what would happen next. 

Because Unjay’s pregnancy had become high-risk, she spent days under close monitoring before delivery. During that stretch, Devin was worn out from the stress, lack of sleep, and constant back-and-forth between hospitals. 

Then came the moment neither of them could have planned. 

Katherine walked into Unjay’s room to introduce herself as her nurse. Unjay had already been on the unit for several days because of the pregnancy complications, and Devin was asleep on the couch. 

Katherine did not realize who he was. But something about her voice stirred him immediately. 

As Devin pieced it together and asked Unjay to confirm the nurse’s name, the disbelief set in. It was Ms. Kathy — the same nurse his family had talked about for years, the same nurse he had seen at Mardi Gras every year, and the same nurse who had cared for him when he was born. 

They asked Katherine to come back into the room. Before she returned, Devin hurried to freshen up and stood near the door waiting. 

“When I walked back in, he was just standing there smiling,” Katherine recalled. “And I was in disbelief, too.” 

For Devin, it felt surreal. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I knew her voice, even when I was asleep.” 

When Katherine walked through the door, they did not even speak at first. They simply saw each other and embraced. 

Soon, Devin was on the phone with his mother. “You’re not going to believe who our nurse is,” he told her. 

Not long after, Unjay underwent a C-section, and Dakota was born. Later, Katherine stopped back in again, this time to see the baby too. Looking at Dakota, she smiled and took it all in. The little boy she had once cared for was now a father, standing beside a new generation of his own. 

Moments later, they took a picture together, capturing what Devin says is a memory he will never forget. 

High-risk pregnancy, recovery, and unexpected challenges 

As meaningful as that reunion was, the days around Dakota’s birth were also shaped by medical uncertainty and quick-moving challenges. 

Unjay was recovering from surgery, and Dakota needed neonatal care and close observation in the NICU. Just hours after Dakota’s birth, Devin experienced a severe allergic reaction that sent him to the emergency room. 

Dakota was born at 6:35 in the morning. By 1 p.m., Devin himself was gasping for air. With Unjay still unable to move easily after her C-section, the moment was frightening for both of them. Devin, drawing on his own experience working in the hospital system, knew enough to tell staff exactly what kind of response was needed. 

In the middle of a surgical recovery and NICU stay, the staff quickly recognized something was wrong and moved fast to get him the care he needed. He was treated in the ER and recovered, but the scare added yet another layer to an already intense day for the family. 

Even so, he said the care never faltered. Katherine remained a steady source of comfort, helping Unjay navigate the difficult early days after surgery and regain her footing after an emergency procedure. For Devin, that was part of what made the experience so meaningful. Katherine was not just part of his family’s story from the past. She was helping carry them through the present too. 

Specialized NICU care for two first-time parents 

While Katherine helped anchor the family on the postpartum side, the NICU team became a crucial part of Dakota’s early journey. 

Dakota spent about two weeks in Touro’s Level III NICU, after needing additional care following her early arrival. There, the team closely monitored her breathing, feeding, and day-to-day progress. Located within the Family Birthing Center, the NICU is designed to keep babies close to the specialized support they need while also helping parents remain near their child. 

For Devin and Unjay, that meant long days at the hospital, frequent visits, and learning in real time how to care for a baby who needed more support before going home. They visited several times each day and sometimes stayed late into the night. “The NICU team was amazing,” Devin said. “If I asked a million questions, they answered every single one. No attitude, no frustration. They treated us like first-time parents and really gave us a ton of knowledge.” 

He said that support extended beyond clinical updates. Nurses and staff helped guide the family through feeding questions, lactation support, and the daily realities of caring for a NICU baby. 

Little by little, Dakota grew stronger. After a few days, she no longer needed oxygen support, which became one of the first clear signs that she was building strength and moving steadily toward home. 

The next chapter begins 

For both Devin and Ms. Kathy, the moment was about more than coincidence. It was a reminder of what care can mean over time. 

This kind of reunion is rare. Most nurses never get to see what becomes of the babies they once cared for, much less reconnect with them as adults starting families of their own. For Katherine, seeing Devin step into fatherhood brought decades of work into focus. 

“As nurses, we are honored to play such an important role in the lives of babies and parents,” she said. “And sometimes you don’t realize the impact until years later.” 

When asked whether she might still be around someday if Dakota has a family of her own, Katherine laughed. “I don’t know if I’ll still be working then, but I’ll definitely be there to visit!” 

Today, the story is still unfolding. Dakota is back home and doing well, and Devin is back at work at University Medical Center. When the families see each other now, the conversation is no longer just about the baby Katherine once cared for. It is about Dakota too — how big she’s getting, how Unjay is doing, and how life has changed. For generations of New Orleans families, Touro has been part of some of life’s biggest beginnings. For Devin’s family, that story now stretches across three decades and two generations. 

For Devin, the experience deepened his appreciation not only for Katherine, but for the teams that carried his family through a high-risk delivery, a NICU stay, and an unexpected emergency in the span of just days. 

“Ms. Kathy is the greatest,” he said. “She’s more than a nurse. She is family. Just like the entire team who cared for us and Dakota.” 

For families navigating a high-risk pregnancy, recovery after delivery, or time in the NICU, compassionate care can make all the difference. To learn more about Women’s Health Services at Touro, visit www.lcmchealth.org/touro/our-services/womens-health.