Saint Francis Doula Recalls Lockdown Experience During Deadly Shooting

A Tulsan who supports women during labor is remembering what it was like being inside Saint Francis with an expecting mom this week when a gunman opened fire on the hospital campus, murdering four people before killing himself.

She told us about her experience in lockdown.

"It was a normal day. I had gotten called into a labor. I was there with my clients. I was helping them, you know, answering questions. It was a really beautiful day. Everyone was in a great mood," said Taryn Starkey, Doula.

Starkey said she's still in shock and said if she hadn't gotten distracted and left the hospital to get dinner when she planned to, things may have ended very differently.

Just down the skywalk from where there was new life entering the world, there were cries of fear as a gunman took the lives of four innocent victims.

"Everyone is feeling all sorts of ways. I know people who are angry and people who are sad and people who want change, and all of those things are valid. And so I think we just need to lean on each other in these coming days," said Starkey.

Starkey has been a doula for many years and was inside a labor and delivery room last Wednesday.

"My clients' nurse came in and her eyes were really big and wide," said Starkey.

Starkey said the nurse very calmly told them the hospital was on lockdown, to stop any procedures, and they needed to stay in their room.

Starkey thought maybe it was a drill.

"A lot of times on baby delivery units, a baby monitor might go off if someone gets too close to an exit with their baby," said Starkey.

However, when family and friends started messaging her, she knew then, that it was serious.

"The first thing that went through my mind was how is this gonna affect my client and her labor. I was trying to figure out how stressed she was and how professional I needed to be," said Starkey. "When you do become stressed out that can stall our labor and completely stop it."

Starkey's client had been in labor for a while and they had to stop everything.

"Some of the patients on the floor had epidurals and so that means they can't get up and go where they need to go," said Starkey.

Starkey said the lockdown lasted about two hours and said her clients had their beautiful, baby boy later that night.

"The next 24 hours, I felt like I was kind of in shock a little bit. I was shocked of how close we were to the situation and how we didn't even get a chance to get over other shootings before another one was happening in our own backyard. I think it's gonna take some time to process through everything and to really understand how to feel," said Starkey.

Starkey said she's so proud of the staff at Saint Francis for how calm they stayed. She believes they did everything in their power to keep everyone safe. She also told News On 6 that she's in awe of her client for how brave she was.

"To the victims and their families, I am so, so sorry that something so tragic could've happened especially in a place where people are going to receive care," said Starkey.

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