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INSPIRATIONAL BIRTH
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 ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL: Alicia Hayes, left, dispatcher at the 9-1-1 Center, visits with proud and relieved parents Jason and April Simpson one week after Hayes guided them through the delivery of Ava Marie through an emergency 9-1-1 call from their home near Imbler. - CHRIS BAXTER But the truth is, before Sept. 17, Hayes had never “delivered a baby by phone.” In fact, as 9-1-1 Communications Manager Lola Lathrop attests, Hayes is the first dispatcher in the whole history of Union County 9-1-1 to do it. “We’ve dispatched ambulances to women in labor, but they all made it to the hospital on time,” Lathrop said.
The baby, a 7-pound, 20 1/2-inch girl named Ava Jane Marie, is perfectly healthy and has a long full life ahead of her. Her parents, Jason and April Simpson, are very proud of her.  a smile of relief: With her new baby safe and sound in her arms, a smiling April Simpson recounts the story of how 1-week-old Ava Jane Marie decided to come into the world a little sooner than Mom and Dad were anticipating. - The Observer/CHRIS BAXTER That Thursday, four days after her projected due date, expectant April went for a walk, accompanied by the children. Along the way, she felt some contractions. For a moment, she was alarmed. “I had been having contractions since Aug. 31, but these were different. These weren’t regular,” she recalled. When she got home, she decided a bath would help her relax. That was when the unexpected happened. While she was in the tub, her water broke. She also had an especially hard contraction, one that told her little Ava didn’t plan to wait any longer . For a brief moment, April had trouble accepting the fact. “It felt just like a transition contraction. I thought, ‘I can’t be going through the last stages of labor, I haven’t gone through the first yet,’ ” she said. But her mother’s instincts told her birth was imminent. She banged on the wall to get her husband’s attention. When Jason got to the bathroom, April told him to call 9-1-1. “I knew it was serious,” Jason said. “She said it felt just like a transition.” On the phone, Jason connected with Hayes, a veteran dispatcher, state-certified EMT, mother of three children who happened to be eight months pregnant with a fourth. “The first thing Jason said was, ‘I think my wife’s water broke,’” Hayes said. “He wasn’t panicky, but I could hear some anxiety in his voice.” Dispatchers at 9-1-1 receive some classroom training in medical emergencies. They also keep a book on hand that gives them protocols to follow. After asking a few brief questions and sending an ambulance, Hayes opened the book to the page on childbirth. But as the incident unfolded, she found herself relying less on the book and more on her real-life know-how. “My experience having my own kids, plus my EMT training really helped,” she said. A decision was reached to drain the water in the tub and deliver the baby there. Hayes told Jason to make April as comfortable as possible, and gather items including towels and a bulb syringe for clearing the baby’s airway. Jason had one problem: he was talking on a phone connected to a wall. While he was gathering the needed items, he had to hunt for the cordless phone the family keeps on hand. Son Jace held the line while Jason looked for the other phone. Hayes cautioned the boy to not hang up, and told him to tell his dad that an ambulance was on the way. Jace did so. On the tape, Jason is heard to say, “OK, Jace. I hope they hurry.” In the end, though, it was all up to Dad. Things were happening too fast. Back in the bathroom, Jason cradled the cordless phone between his ear and shoulder and positioned himself to deliver a baby. Hayes took him through it, step by step. Ava’s head appeared, face down as it was supposed to be. In short order, the birth was complete. “April was focused on what she was doing,” Jason said. “She was in her own world and Alicia and I were just helping.” Hayes told Jason to watch and see if the cord was wrapped around the neck. It happened that it was. She told him how to slip it off. The delivery finished, Jason gently suctioned Ava’s mouth and nose with the bulb syringe as Hayes instructed him. Hayes asked if the baby was crying. Jason answered no. Very calmly, Hayes told him to give Ava “a little baby massage, to tell her it’s time to wake up.” The massage did the trick. “At first she gave a couple little squeals, and then she really started crying,” Jason recalled. That’s how things stood when the ambulance crew arrived. The EMTs clamped the cord, Jason cut it, then mother and child were bundled up for transport. Ava cried all the way to the hospital, but only because it was her birthday. At the hospital, she got a clean bill of health. April, well recovered now, said she is thankful for Hayes’ help. “It was nice to know there was somebody there who was calm and knew how to help,” she said. Jason said he never has been one to lose his cool. With a little help from Hayes, he set himself to the task and got it done. “I said to myself, ‘This is what’s happening, this is what we’ve got to do.’ ” Looking back on the incident, Hayes remembers some strange and fortunate circumstances. Through the whole incident, the usually frenetic dispatch center was absolutely quiet. There were no other calls and nobody came through the door to interrupt. “That almost never happens,” she said. “It was so quiet. My partner was even gone at the time. She had left to get food.” The moment of Ava’s birth was highly emotional for Hayes, though no one could tell it at the time. It wasn’t until later that she let her feelings show. “After it was over, I went outside and cried,” she said. |
