Healthcare Heroes: Dr. Cheryl A. Fogarty

Dr. Cheryl A. Fogarty

Mercy Women’s Health Joplin Obstetrics and Gynecology Runner-Up

With 13 years together, Dr. Cheryl A. Fogarty saw one patient through years of infertility, the heartbreaking loss of four babies and the eventual joy of delivering a healthy baby.

“I don’t know who was crying more, me or her and her husband,” Dr. Fogarty says. “I saw her through the first four deliveries that were stillborn births and so when she had her first live-born child we were all sobbing. You can’t really describe the joy for a beautiful baby that is alive and screaming. It doesn’t ever get old, it doesn’t ever stop being awe-inspiring.”

After the patients’ first healthy delivery, Dr. Fogarty went on to help her through two more healthy pregnancies and deliveries. Her patient recently came in for a visit before Mother’s Day with her two sons and daughter, a beautiful reminder of the joy that can come after heartbreak.

“She encompasses the whole reason why I’m doing this,” Dr. Fogarty says. “Because although it’s great to come in and save the day in an emergency, it’s that continuity and getting to stay with a patient through all of the ups and downs that keeps me in the game and affirms this is really the right profession for me.”