Rachel Ramsey (‘05) never grew up wanting to be a nurse. She began her college experience at Belmont University where she majored in Music Business.
“I originally wanted to go on the road with artists and help them with their music careers,” said Ramsey.
After spending a year at Belmont, Ramsey decided to shift her career path. “There was a television show called “A Baby Story” that actually sparked my interest in nursing,” said Ramsey. “I love taking care of people, and loved babies so it all just kind of fit together.”
Ramsey was accepted to the University of Tennessee, College of Nursing in 2002.
“I still remember where I was sitting when I opened the acceptance letter from the College of Nursing,” said Ramsey. “I was ecstatic to begin my nursing education at such a prestigious and highly renowned and rated nursing school.”
As Ramsey began her classes, her passion for mothers and babies was ignited.
“I loved the mother-baby classes and the lactation class that I took during my time in the College of Nursing,” said Ramsey. “I remember being on fire for moms and babies once I took the related courses, and couldn’t wait to use my nursing skills to help them.”
Ramsey graduated from the College of Nursing with her Bachelors of Science in Nursing in 2005.
Full Circle
Following graduation, Ramsey spent 14 years as a mother-baby RN, where she saw a great need for families to have more care once they walked out of those hospital doors with their newborn.
“As a nurse, you discharge the mom, and walk her to the car with her newborn baby to go home,” said Ramsey. “After years of walking moms out the door, handing them their newborn, and having them cry on my shoulder asking me to come home with them, I knew we had to do something to help them once they got home.”
Little did Ramsey know how full circle her dreams of being in the music business, and helping families care for newborns was about to become.
During Ramsey’s time as an RN in the hospital, she was approached by a friend offering a nanny position for country music star, Jennifer Nettles, of the band Sugarland.
“Rachel has a gift. She loves babies and mamas, and recognizes the importance of caring for both,” said Nettles. “She will put you at ease knowing that not only is your precious baby in the capable, trained hands of a Registered Nurse, but also in the warm and loving hands of a natural nurturer.”
“Being on the road with country music singers and their babies has definitely brought this full circle for me,” said Ramsey. “I feel like I am living the ultimate dream every day of my life.”
Bringing it all to Fruition
In 2017, Ramsey founded The Newborn Nurse, LLC ®, Middle Tennessee’s number one lactation, newborn day and night nurse care company. The goal was simple: to help families more easily transition to life with a newborn baby.
“I googled how to start a business,” said Ramsey. “From the ground up, step-by-step, I built this entire company. It was not easy, but my passion for helping new moms was my driving force.”
Ramsey started The Newborn Nurse in 2017. The Newborn Nurse is Middle Tennessee’s number one lactation, newborn day and night care company.
The Newborn Nurse offers a plethora of services to their clients. The company provides everything from Baby 101 Classes that help instruct parents on how to care for a newborn, to emotional support and household help for the family and even In-Home Overnight RN care.
Ramsey has worked with over 160 families in Nashville and surrounding areas. The company has served a wide range of clients including several celebrity clients such as country music stars Maren Morris, Kane Brown, and Chris Stapleton, and Predators hockey players Roman Josi and Pekka Rinne.
“Sometimes these parents just need a few more days or weeks of care, and then they feel like they have their sea legs and have adjusted a little bit better to life with their newborn,” said Ramsey.
The Newborn Nurse now employees over 30 nurses, and lactation consultants. The Newborn Nurse team collectively has over 260 years of nursing experience and has cared for over 600,000 babies, in their combined nursing careers.
“Starting a business was not my end game,” said Ramsey. “Sometimes I sit back and think wow it is wild how all of this came to fruition. I feel so blessed to wake up and do what I love every day. I give all the credit to God, my team, and my outstanding nursing education at the University of Tennessee, College of Nursing.”
__
CONTACT:
Kara Clark (865-974-9498, kmclark2@utk.edu)