Delivering babies is part of paramedic training, but it’s not often paramedics have to actually deliver babies.
Last week, paramedics Jessica Stephens and Alex Seesequasis got a call and met a vehicle 10 minutes north of North Battleford on Highway 4 with a mother in active labour.
“We loaded her in the back of the ambulance, and she said I feel like I need to push and we ended up delivering a healthy baby girl.”
The baby crying immediately “was really a positive sign,” Stephens said.
Stephens is an advanced care paramedic, while Seesequasis is a primary care paramedic. Stephens said her training involved going into an obstetrics ward and doing a tour and a couple deliveries as part of the training.
“Training prepares you for everything,” Stephens said. “It really takes over and you don’t overly think it because you’ve just been trained to do it.”
The paramedics cut the cord and transported the mother and her baby to the hospital.
A WPD Ambulance Facebook post read: “Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your happy day and for allowing us to share this happy news! Jessica and Alex were excited to help with the delivery of this cute little bundle of pink joy!
These are the calls that any paramedic is happy to get and we are thankful everything went smoothly for mom and baby! However the parents declined to go with Jessica or Alexandra for baby’s name! Maybe next time guys...”
Stephens guesses that paramedics working with WPD Ambulance deliver about 10 babies a year in the area, if that.
“This was probably one of my favourite calls I’ve been on,” Stephens said. “It was very, very exciting and it had a good outcome.”
