Isable Delgado-HerreraEverything was going well when Isabel Delgado went into labor. She'd planned a hospital delivery for the birth of her fourth child, and unlike some women who end up delivering on the side of the road because they don't make it in time, she was there in the delivery room and ready.

Then it was time to push ... but there was no doctor to be found. According to KENS5, the San Antonio couple sent their nephew out to find a doctor, but he found none -- just a nurse. Dad David Herrera told the station, "When he comes back in finally, like, 'Uncle David, there's no doctors.'"

Instead of panicking, however, calm mom Isabel took charge and told her husband just what he needed to do. "So I looked at him [Herrera] and said, 'David, look at me,' and I said, 'You can do this,'" she told the station.

So dad donned surgical gloves and tried to remember what the doctor had done when his three sons were born. Then in a matter of minutes, he delivered his own daughter -- Isabel -- right there in the hospital. The couple said it all happened so quickly they didn't even think to look at the clock for the exact time of birth.

Wow, what a birth story that is, and it's amazing that they were both so calm. Now, they're just grateful their baby girl is here and healthy. I have to wonder, however, how the hospital is going to explain this, and what the nurse, who was reportedly present, was doing. It's a little worrisome that Delgado says in the interview that she was worried about freaking out the nurse.

The hospital, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System, offered nothing more than a dismissive statement that read:

We take patient concerns seriously and conduct internal reviews surrounding patient concerns. Labor and Delivery nurses are trained to deliver babies when delivery of the baby is imminent.

So why didn't this nurse step in instead of dad doing the delivery? I suppose all's well that ends well, but I certainly hope it makes the hospital rethink their policies. At the very least, it seems like this family should get some kind of discount on their delivery.

Did you have an unusual birth experience? Do you think the couple deserves a discount on this birth?


Image via KENS5