Miles of Trust: Shanna's Story

Some peo­ple say they’d go the extra mile for the peo­ple they trust.

Shan­na went the extra hun­dred — and then some.

The Pitts­field, Illi­nois, mom made the near­ly four-hour trip to New Lenox to give birth under the care Jean Alexan­dre, MD, the Duly OB/GYN who had sup­port­ed her through some of her most vul­ner­a­ble moments.

Their jour­ney togeth­er began at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) in Quin­cy, Illi­nois, in 2020. At the time, Shan­na was nav­i­gat­ing her first preg­nan­cy when she expe­ri­enced a heart­break­ing miscarriage.

“Dr. Alexan­dre was so con­sol­ing and com­fort­ing,” she said. ​“I just felt at peace with every­thing when I was with him.”

That calm­ing pres­ence made an imme­di­ate impact — and formed a last­ing bond.

Just a month lat­er, Shan­na became preg­nant with her son. Dr. Alexan­dre was there every step of the way, deliv­er­ing her first baby in Quin­cy. Three years lat­er, when she and her hus­band decid­ed to expand their fam­i­ly, they nat­u­ral­ly turned to him again.

But mid­way through her sec­ond preg­nan­cy, Shan­na received unex­pect­ed news: Dr. Alexan­dre would be tran­si­tion­ing his prac­tice to Duly Health and Care in New Lenox, Illinois.

“So of course, we had a won­der­ful option still at Quin­cy Med­ical Group,” she said. ​“But I couldn’t imag­ine con­tin­u­ing on with­out him. I just want­ed to at least fin­ish this preg­nan­cy with him, and so I was pret­ty deter­mined to make it work.”

For­tu­nate­ly, Shan­na had fam­i­ly and friends near New Lenox. ​“I just made excus­es to go vis­it,” she laughed, ​“and then I sched­uled some pre­na­tal appoint­ments with him while I was up there.”

Back home, QMG con­tin­ued to pro­vide excep­tion­al care. Obio­ma Mad­u­akor, MD, OB/GYN, stepped in to sup­port Shan­na through the rest of her pre­na­tal vis­its in Quincy.

“I was very for­tu­nate to con­tin­ue my care with Dr. Mad­u­akor, and I love her too,” Shan­na shared. ​“I was ner­vous at first to start with a new doc­tor because it’s hard to replace Dr. Alexan­dre, but I absolute­ly love her. She’s kind and fun­ny, and she real­ly makes you feel com­fort­able. I joke with my friends that she’s kind of like the female ver­sion of him.”

Thanks to close coor­di­na­tion between the teams at QMG and Duly, every­thing came togeth­er seam­less­ly. Records were shared, com­mu­ni­ca­tion was smooth, and every provider focused on one goal: ensur­ing Shan­na and her baby were cared for at every step.

On May 20, Shan­na arrived at Sil­ver Cross Hos­pi­tal in New Lenox to deliv­er her newest addition.

“From check-in to deliv­ery, the whole expe­ri­ence was just smooth,” she said. ​“The staff was so accom­mo­dat­ing and sup­port­ive. It felt more like a five-star resort than a hospital.”

At 9:28 am, her daugh­ter was born.

But what meant the most? Dr. Alexandre’s con­tin­ued pres­ence — before, dur­ing, and after delivery.

“He checked in every morn­ing and every evening while we were there,” Shan­na said. ​“Even if it was just a quick hel­lo, he’d spend 20 to 30 min­utes with us. He didn’t have to do that, but he did. That’s who he is.”

It’s no sur­prise to Shan­na that the team at Duly and Sil­ver Cross already hold him in such high regard.

“I was talk­ing with the nurs­es, and they were say­ing how much they love work­ing with him. One nurse had just switched to him her­self,” she said. ​“He’s already mak­ing an impact.”

For Shan­na, that impact began years ago and con­tin­ues to this day.

“I tell every­one, if you’re look­ing for a doc­tor who will tru­ly lis­ten, care, and sup­port you through every moment, it’s Dr. Alexan­dre,” she said. ​“You won’t regret choos­ing him.”

Get to know more about Dr. Alexan­dre and sched­ule an OB/GYN appoint­ment with him in New Lenox or Tin­ley Park today.