Miracle delivery by EMT- over the phone!
My son was born in Korea. When I had my baby shower, another expatriate friend of mine told me how after delivering three babies overseas, she went home so she could have her fourth in an American hospital. But the baby had other plans, and emerged in the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly grocery store-on American soil.
It’s not all that uncommon for EMTs to deliver babies. And, in fact, Christine Springer had done an ambulance delivery before. But helping Dolores Guidice, 20, through her labor last Tuesday was different, and more was at stake. First, the baby was premature- nearly two months early. But Springer was able to help the terrified Guidice calm down. Guidice’s mother was also present. And it was she who first noticed the legs- the baby was breech. So Springer helped Guidice into a different position that would help the baby out. A third complication arose when the baby emerged and wasn’t breathing, because the umbilical cord was wrapped around its neck. And, again, Springer knew how to get the baby breathing.
But the most amazing part of all of this was the most important complication- Springer wasn’t actually there. Debra Guidice called 911 when her daughter went into early labor. When it was obvious the baby wouldn’t wait for an ambulance, Springer- who is also 8 months pregnant- coached the mother-daughter team though the delivery over the telephone!
Just after 3 pm, Dolores Guidice gave birth to a healthy, though tiny, baby girl at her Long Island home. The delivery took just four minutes, as baby Nevaeh weighed only 3 pounds, 9 ounces.
Baby Nevaeh’s name is the word ‘heaven’ spelled backward. “She’s a miracle, my baby,” Mom said. Grandma Debra’s voice over the 911 call is clearly terrified when she placed the call, describing the breech position, and then indicating that the baby was stuck and later, not breathing. But after Springer’s successful guidance, Debra sounds more poignant. “Oh, she opened up her eyes.”
Dolores and Debra were able to publicly thank Christine Springer this Tuesday. “I just want to say thank you very much because if it wasn’t for you my baby wouldn’t be alive right now,” said Dolores in a TV interview.
Do you know any miracle babies? Tell us!
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