Pregnant woman went into labor before she could leave for hospital. Firefighters responded to 911 call in 3 minutes and saved 2 lives
A person might experience some things in their career that they can never forget. A firefighter of 22 years experienced that after one emergency call from a couple. The woman's water broke while she was in her dining room and the couple knew that they wouldn't be able to make it to the hospital before the baby's birth. So they called the emergency services immediately. The firefighters arrived at the location and helped deliver the baby. It was a big moment for the fire captain for a special reason, per WXYZ-TV Detroit Channel.
The mom, LeeShauna Brown, had been pregnant for 38 weeks when the incident happened. "Everything just happened so fast, so quick," the Macomb woman explained. "I was laboring for 14 hours by then and I decided to get the shower to help ease the contractions and I got in the shower and I immediately started having contractions back to back." The couple decided to go to the hospital once Brown came out of the bathroom, but her water broke in the dining room itself. The parents were quite surprised as they were not prepared for such a thing. "We had a plan, but for her to be born at home was not the plan," the dad, Stephan Smith, pointed out.
The man quickly called 911 for his wife and the firefighters arrived to deliver the baby in around three minutes. Captain Ken Bartz, who had been with the Macomb Township fire department for over 22 years, responded to the call along with other firefighters. Surprisingly enough, it was the captain's first time responding to such a case. "This is my best call. This is one I won’t forget," Bartz remarked. "Believe it or not, this is something I’ve always wanted to do, being on this job. Having a young grandchild now, that's six months, being able to deliver a newborn like that, it just makes it all the better. It's amazing." The dispatcher had explained everything to the team about the woman's situation.
"For an OB emergency… 34-year-old female. Water broke. She says she does feel the baby’s head. She’s in her third trimester," the person told the team on call. "Our response time was about three minutes from receiving the call to on scene," Bartz added. The baby was born after just four minutes of the team's arrival. "Within about four minutes, I was holding a beautiful baby girl," Bartz shared. "They told me to lie down on my back, and he said you're going to have to push and so here we go and so we just started pushing right there in the middle of the dining room floor." The dad was really glad with how smoothly the team helped his wife through the process.
"Reassuring, real smooth. Like, 'Hey, we got you. Take your time. Hey, Dad, we need a towel.' I'm tossing a towel to 'em. It was just a moment," Smith expressed. "Appreciate their time, their energy, their professionalism, they put all their skills... It was showtime," the dad continued. "Assisting with her, ya know, controlling her breathing and just pushing when needing to be pushed," Firefighter Joe Longo said, recounting the situation. Brown admitted, "I really appreciate their calmness and just really for helping me to just focus and just give birth." The mom and her baby, Amarla, were taken to the Henry Ford Macomb Hospital after that.