After years of helping bring lives into the world, obstetrician/gynecologist Dr Amanda Hess was just hours away from welcoming her own second baby.
She was already dressed in her hospital gown on July 23 at Frankfort Regional Hospital in Kentucky, USA, and was preparing to be induced when she heard a commotion down the hall.
Fellow patient and mother-to-be Leah Halliday-Johnson, preparing for the birth of her fourth child, was in distress.
The 38-year-old was only 1cm dilated when she checked into the hospital. But after an hour, her baby was arriving faster than expected and the umbilical cord was loosely wrapped around the girl’s neck.
The nurses told her not to push as the on-call doctor was still on his way back from his break.
"I was not being quiet about the fact that it was difficult for me not to push," Leah told PEOPLE Magazine.
Despite the fact her own contractions were just minutes away from starting, Dr Hess knew there was no time to waste and she had to help Leah deliver her fourth baby.
"I just put on another gown to cover up my backside and put on some boots over my shoes, to keep from getting any fluid and all that stuff on me, and went down to her room," she told WKYT News.
It was then that she realised she had actually met Halliday-Johnson just a week earlier at her final pre-natal appointment.
Halliday-Johnson wasn't told until after her baby was born — a healthy baby girl — that the OBGYN wasn't on duty and was actually in hospital, preparing to give birth herself.
"I said, 'OK, it's great to see you. Can I push now?'" Halliday-Johnson told PEOPLE.
"She was in complete doctor mode. She just heard somebody needed help. She's a really special person. I'm thankful for her."
Dr Hess later welcomed her own baby, a girl named Ellen Joyce, who joins big sister Kate.
She joked that she thought taking a call the day before was "working up to the last minute."
"This was literally 'til the last second," she told LEX18 News.
LISTEN: What happens after you take your baby home from the hospital for the first time.
Top Comments
Seriously, has the good doctor had her hair and make-up done for that shot?
Gorgeous story, but as a midwife - how hilarious is it that in America there are only obstetric nurses in birth suites, no midwives.... so they tell you "don't push!!" until the doctor is there! For every single birth! Hahaha!
"The cord was loosely wrapped around the neck".... OMG that happens in a third of ALL births 😱 Thank god that doctor was there to save that baby 😏
Yeah, this is being touted as a good news story, but I think it's a bloody disgrace that the obstetric nurses can't just deliver the baby themselves! Screw the doctor who's off on a tea break or whatever, if that baby is coming, it's coming!
And yeah, gosh I'm sick of hearing stories about the 'life threatening' complication of having the cord around the neck. Life pro tip to everyone: babies don't breathe until they're on the outside. You're not cutting off heir air supply if the cord is around their neck. It would have to be unbelievably tight and cutting off blood flow to and from the brain to be a problem.
Regarding your last paragraph:
Never considered that. Obviously i knew they weren't breathing air, just not something i ever thought about.
My cousin lost her baby last week at 8 months pregnant due to the cord wrapped around the babies neck. Don't have details though.
Doctors actually have tea breaks where you work? Sounds like Xanadu to me!
Absolutely!!! 🤣