Lauren Kuratko's Story
It felt like getting a big hug every time I went in. Whenever I had questions or thought something wasn’t right, I could just call the office, and they were super attentive.
Not long after moving to Westchester from Atlanta, Lauren Kuratko and her husband Ryan decided it was time to expand their family. New to the area, the 39-year-old Episcopal priest needed to find an obstetrician-gynecologist close to home with experience treating high-risk patients.
“When I get pregnant, I develop gestational diabetes. So I have to have more care,” Lauren says. Gestational diabetes is a form of high blood sugar that occurs in pregnant women who did not have diabetes before. Women with gestational diabetes are at higher risk for possible problems for mom and baby, including pregnancy loss, preterm labor, and low birth weight.
Lauren’s primary care doctor referred her to Dr. Mary Rosser, an obstetrician-gynecologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
She continues: “She said she knew a doctor in Westchester County that had practiced in Atlanta. When she mentioned her name, I said, ‘Oh My Gosh! That’s my doctor.’”
Dr. Rosser was referring to Dr. Meera Garcia. Dr. Garcia was a popular OB/GYN in Atlanta before moving to New York in October 2018 to become the Regional Director of Women’s Health Services and Division Chief of General OB/GYN at NewYork-Presbyterian Medical Group Hudson Valley. Dr. Rosser and Dr. Garcia were in residency training at the Emory University School of Medicine together.
When the Kuratko family was in Atlanta, Dr. Garcia was Lauren’s OB/GYN – having treated her gestational diabetes during her two previous pregnancies.
“I was very excited to have a doctor that I knew — that knew my history and my body — even though I was in a new area,” she says.
Because of her history of gestational diabetes, Dr. Garcia referred Lauren to a Columbia University Irving Medical Center maternal-fetal medicine doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital, who performed tests to see if the gestational diabetes was under control and for potential developmental disabilities. Through its partnership with ColumbiaDoctors, the faculty practice of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital brings renowned experts in maternal-fetal medicine and other specialties to its community.
Dr. Garcia monitored Lauren and the baby throughout the pregnancy, even when Lauren moved to Maine for a couple of months to serve as a visiting priest.
“It felt like getting a big hug every time I went in. Whenever I had questions or thought something wasn’t right, I could just call the office, and they were super attentive. If I needed anything, I knew I’d get a prompt reply,” Lauren says.
On September 30, 2019, Lauren gave birth to her third son, Yeats, at NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley.