Hadley Joan Peterson’s Legacy: Making the World a Better Place
When Sammy and Matt Peterson decided to have a fourth child, they knew it would be their last. In the midst of the chaos of COVID, their family embraced the togetherness of working from home and distance learning for their children Case 3, Pryor 7, and Malia 11. This final pregnancy felt like a gift they shared.
From the beginning, baby Hadley was surrounded by love. “We just enjoyed every minute,” Sammy says. “Because the kids were home, they were involved in the pregnancy more than they would have been otherwise.”
Her name, Hadley Joan, was rich with family meaning – Hadley was Matt’s mother’s hometown, and Joan was his mother’s name. “That was always her name,” Sammy says.
A cesarean section was scheduled for October 12. But five days before, Sammy felt something wasn’t right: She wasn’t feeling the usual kicks and movement. Sammy called the Women’s Health Center; they told her to come in to check things out.
They sent Sammy to the Birth Center for an ultrasound “They couldn’t find a heartbeat,” Sammy remembers. OB/GYN provider Dr. Nicole Dohm-Palmer, M.D. ordered a second ultrasound which confirmed it, and a family friend working in radiology was there when the news was shared: Baby Hadley had passed away.
Despite the heartbreak, Sammy and Matt experienced truly compassionate care—from the moment Sammy was admitted, to long after Hadley’s birth.
Sammy had never met Dr. Dohm-Palmer or Birth Center nurse Wendy Klotter, RN before that day. But she’ll never forget them. “Dr. Dohm-Palmer was so supportive and passionate. Wendy was just what I needed, she just took over,” Sammy says. “She stayed by my side well past her shift—she kept asking if I wanted her to stay, and finally just said, ‘I’m staying.’”
Wendy helped them navigate the many decisions that needed to be made with confidence and kindness, even organizing support from IRIS, (Infants Remembered in Silence, a local nonprofit offering support to grieving parents). “Wendy was my angel,” Sammy says.
It was comforting to Sammy and Matt that they knew several of the nurses during Hadley’s delivery because they had delivered their other children.
“It was just so personal for everyone, including the staff. I don't know if that's part of being a small-town hospital, but that was a big deal for us,” says Sammy. “They allowed both sets of grandparents be there for her birth.”
After Hadley was delivered, Matt went with her. “The anesthesiologist stepped in to be my support,” remembers Sammy. “He was so amazing. Everyone from early in the day through our whole stay was so supportive and caring. They felt our pain, it was hard on them too.”
After Hadley’s stillbirth that evening, Sammy and Matt held their daughter for an hour before bringing in their family. They all got to hold her, take pictures, and get to know their sweet little angel. Her Big Papa was able to baptize her. “Every single person we interacted with made us feel like Hadley mattered,” says Sammy.
Later that night, Frankie Stocker, RN took over care. “Frankie was exactly what we needed,” Sammy shares. “She could tell I wasn’t sleeping so she offered to 'not let Hadley out of her sight', so we could sleep for a few hours. Knowing she was being held and loved, like our other children born there, meant the world to us.”
The next morning, as the funeral home arrived to take Hadley for an autopsy, and Cory Griemann stood with Sammy. “She was this calm, kind soul. Again, it was exactly what I needed. Every person showed up for us,” Sammy recalls. "As we were leaving the hospital, Cory said 'not one of us here will forget Hadley. We feel so honored to have met her, knowing many people did not get that chance.'"
Sammy and Matt have learned that this isn’t true for every family. Through conversations with other bereaved parents, they learned many don’t receive that same level of care and empathy during child loss. “We realized how fortunate we were. It wasn’t just medical support. It was emotional, spiritual, human support. That care helped us start our grief journey on solid ground.”
Wanting other families to receive the same support, the couple searched for a meaningful way to give back. Through the Northfield Hospital Foundation, they raised funds to send three nurses to Resolve Through Sharing – a national bereavement training program that prepares healthcare providers to care compassionately for families experiencing perinatal loss.
The training is designed to help nurses and staff know what to expect, to build a level of comfort and confidence so when it’s time to care for a patient experiencing loss, nurses are prepared to focus on the family.
“Reading the nurse’s applications was emotional,” Sammy shares. “So many nurses were interested. It was hard to choose. We wish we could send them all.”
The couple was especially moved that the nurses planned to share what they learned with colleagues hospital-wide extending the impact of their training.
One nurse that applied had been working the day Hadley was born. In their acceptance letter to her, Sammy and Matt wrote:
“Although it was the worst day of our lives, all the nurses made us feel like we weren’t fighting through the pain alone. You might only be with a family for a short time, but that time shapes their grief journey for the rest of their lives.”
“We want every family to receive what we did,” Sammy says. “That level of compassion changes everything.”
Through education and support, Hadley is helping shape the future of grief care for other families in the community.
“We want Hadley’s short life to make the world better,” Sammy says. “We want her to be remembered, not just by us, but through the good her memory creates.”