Michelle Cherry lives in Portage with her husband and son and works endless hours to help support premature babies and their families in our community.
Cherry is the NICU nurse manager at Community Hospital in Munster and is no stranger to what families go through when they have a premature child. Her son Zack was born at 30 weeks gestation weighing just 3 lbs. 9 oz. Having spent time both in the NICU with her son and as a nurse, Michelle knows the ins and outs of the challenges preemie families face.
Because of this, Michelle has gone above and beyond to bring much-needed programs and support to the families who walk through her NICU doors and is an advocate for these families through her role at Community as well as her role as a board member for the March of Dimes.
Michelle’s experience as a NICU nurse came from her love of caring for people and influence from her aunt who was a secretary in the NICU at St. Margaret’s Hospital.
Cherry says, “I thought the babies in the incubators looked so cool and wished I could care for them one day. Who would have known that it would actually come true?”
Michelle is a graduate of Highland High School and received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Indiana University Northwest. She obtained her Masters in Nursing from Loyola University in New Orleans and is currently working towards her Doctorate in Nursing Practice which she is set to finish this December. Cherry has worked at numerous hospitals in her career, but Community Hospital in Munster is where she calls home and she is truly setting an example for patient NICU care in our area.
She has set up a variety of programs, most are normally only seen in the bigger children’s hospitals. Some of the programs she has helped to put in place are the CUDDLER program for volunteers to help with the children if the family is unable to be in the NICU, hospital suites for NICU families, a peer breastfeeding program for NICU families, car seat and Halo’s for families to take home in order increase safety, follow-up clinics in the NICU for children to attend up until the age of 3 to help with development and receive referrals for local resources, and a NICU transport team that will pick infants up from other area hospitals and transport them safely to Community Hospital.
Cherry has been at Community since 2011 and says, “I am lucky to have a team who works so well together. You do not always find a team that works great together in the best interest of the patients but I have that here at Community. I love interacting with the families and being able to get excited with them when it’s time to go home. I have recently taken over pediatrics and they are such a good cohesive team as well. When you work in an environment that people love what they do it makes going to work enjoyable.”
Michelle has also been actively involved in the NWI Breastfeeding Coalition and with the March of Dimes since 2011. Cherry says, “I felt I always understood what families went through having their baby in the NICU, but having it actually happen and being the Mom on the other side is so emotional. The NICU is not how your dream delivery is supposed to go. Having to leave and go home without your baby is like leaving without a part of your heart. But the positive that came out of my experience is delivering my hero Zack who is such a strong boy. The other positive about my experience is that it helped me to understand how families feel when they have babies in the NICU."
Michelle has put her heart and soul into helping families and bringing about much-needed support. You’ve likely seen her smiling face around working hard if you’ve attended any of the local March of Dimes walks or their yearly Chef’s Gala. Michelle is a treasure to not only the preemie families who she comes in contact with but to our community as well.