(NewsNation) — Indiana nurse Katrina Mullen knows how hard it is to become a mother at a young age.

Mullen was 16 when she gave birth to her son, who was later adopted.

So when she was assigned to be 14-year-old Shariya Smalls’ nurse as the teen gave birth to triplets prematurely, Mullen did her best to help her.

“I just felt the need to reach out to her and let her know that I was a teen mom myself,” Mullen said. “I know how scary it was for her to have not only one but three babies.”

The two bonded so much that Mullen, already a single mom of five, ended up adopting Smalls. While Smalls did retain custody of her triplets, Mullen did foster them for almost two years.

“When when the state removed them from the custody of where they (originally) were, I volunteered to take them into my home because I didn’t want her to be separated from them,” Mullen told NewsNation’s “Morning in America.”

Watch the full interview with Katrina Mullen in the video above.