On any given night, inside the Labor and Delivery unit at Tufts Medical Center, Sarah Brownell, RN, is already in motion before most of the city is asleep.
The lights are dim. The hallways steady with quiet urgency. A patient may be in active labor. Another could be heading into an emergency C-section. Somewhere down the hall, a new life is moments away from entering the world.
For Sarah, this unpredictability isn't stressful—it's exactly why she loves what she does.
"Labor and delivery is one of those places where things can go from zero to one hundred very quickly," she says. "You have to be ready for anything. But that's also what makes it so meaningful."
Finding her path to labor and delivery
Sarah didn't start her career in Labor and Delivery. After earning her undergraduate degree in Exercise Science, she returned to school through an accelerated nursing program and joined Tufts Medical Center as her very first nursing job in 2018. She began on a medical-surgical floor, gaining foundational experience, and perspective, during some of the most challenging moments in recent healthcare history.
"I'm very glad I started in med-surg," she says. "It gave me a strong clinical background, but also an appreciation for patients and how to care for all different types of people."
After more than two years, and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah made the transition she had always been curious about: Labor and Delivery.
"I always thought I would like it," she says. "And once I got here, I knew I'll probably never do anything else."
Leading through the night shift
Sarah recently stepped into a new role as nighttime clinical lead, helping guide the unit through each shift. On any given night, she's responsible for coordinating patient assignments, supporting her fellow nurses and ensuring care runs smoothly across both labor and antepartum services.
But titles aside, the heart of her work remains the same: being present for patients during one of the most vulnerable and transformative moments of their lives.
"It's not all rainbows and sunshine," she says. "There are hard moments, too. But even in those, it's incredibly meaningful to be there for someone."
Of course, there's nothing quite like the moment a baby is born.
"It never gets old," she says with a smile.
But what stands out most to Sarah isn't just the delivery, it's everything that happens before it.
"Sometimes the best part of our job is building a relationship with the patient over the course of a shift," she explains. "You're helping them feel safe, supported and heard. That can really shape their entire experience."
It's a responsibility she takes seriously.
"You can truly make or break how someone remembers their labor," she says. "So being able to make it a positive, empowering experience is really rewarding."
That sense of connection extends beyond patients and into the team around her—something Sarah believes sets Tufts Medicine apart.
"There's a real sense of community here," she says. "It's a smaller hospital, and you feel that. People know each other. It's welcoming - it feels like home."
That feeling isn't limited to the nursing staff. On Labor and Delivery, collaboration is constant. Nurses and physicians work side by side, sharing space, ideas and decisions in real time.
"We sit right with our doctors. It's very team-oriented," she says. "No matter how long you've been here, everyone is always asking questions, sharing perspectives and supporting each other."
For Sarah, that's what Tufts Medicine's "One Team" value truly means: showing up not just for your own patients, but for each other.
"You might have your own assignment, but you're always jumping in to help someone else," she says. "That's how everything works."
Some of her most memorable moments reflect that sense of connection - especially the night she helped deliver the twin babies of one of her closest friends and fellow nurses.
"To be part of that experience, and to see someone you work with in that vulnerable, meaningful moment - it was incredibly special," she says.
Keeping compassion at the center of care
Outside the hospital, Sarah's world is just as full. She's a mom of two young children, spends her free time hiking, skiing and staying active with her family and recently picked up an old hobby—playing the piano—again.
But it's her experience as a mother that has most deeply shaped how she cares for patients.
"It's given me a whole new level of empathy," she says. "You don't have to have gone through labor to be a great labor nurse - but for me, it changed how I connect with patients and how I support them."
Whether she's guiding a patient through labor, coordinating her team through a busy night shift or simply offering reassurance in a moment of uncertainty, Sarah leads with compassion—something she believes is at the core of healthcare.
"You wouldn't be in this field if you didn't care about people," she says. "At the end of the day, it's about treating everyone with kindness and understanding. You never know what someone is going through."
It's a simple philosophy—but one that defines the kind of care patients receive every day at Tufts Medicine.
And for Sarah, it's what makes all the difference.
