Hailey Kitchen knew it was getting close to the time of her baby's arrival, but she didn't know how quickly it would happen. When her water broke out of the blue and she could feel the baby coming, she panicked and told her fiance, Ray Mickelson, to dial 911.
When he did, emergency dispatcher Marcia DeBoer took the call and calmed him down. According to the Quad-City Times, her coworker, Kelly Hosette, jumped in to help, and told the couple, "You're going to have a baby by telephone."
Not exactly what parents-to-be want to hear, but they didn't have much choice. Unlike other stories we've heard of babies being born on the side of the road or in other random places while an emergency operator talks them through it, this time there was a scary complication. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck after he was born.
Marcia told Ray how to get the cord free and tie it off, but he says he couldn't get his shoestring out of his shoe to do it. So he found a strip of plastic, "something off the top of a package," and that did the job.
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Soon the baby boy, named John James Mickelson, was crying. "When I heard the baby cry, I was smiling. I knew it was OK,” Marcia said. An ambulance arrived shortly thereafter, and they were taken to the hospital to recover.
Though I'm sure it felt endless at the time, the whole thing took only about four minutes. It's a pretty amazing birth story, and fortunately mom and baby are healthy and happy at home now.
Making the ending even sweeter for the family is the fact that Marcia and two of her coworkers from the emergency call center actually went to visit the baby she helped deliver, bringing toys and gifts. Talk about going over and above the call of duty!
Can you imagine delivering a baby with just instructions over the phone?
Image via edans/Flickr
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Comments 4
It's not uncommon for umbilical cords to be wrapped around the baby, especially the neck. My first daughter's cord was in a complete knot and my 2nd daughter's cord was wrapped around her body several times. I've been told by doctors, nurses and midwives that it's common.
If people were more educated and informed about childbirth, perhaps it would become seen as normal - not as a disease that needs to be managed!
Second, I would not be going looking for an unsterile instrument with which to clamp or cut the cord. If the cord is around the baby's neck after they're born, you unwrap it. Easy. The EMTs/paramedics can take care of cutting it when they arrive. Using, you know, a CORD CLAMP AND STERILE SCISSORS. No need to invite neonatal tetanus.