Couple gets surprise home delivery

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Dustin Hart
  • 347th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  While most pregnancies end with a trip to the hospital and delivery with the assistance of medical professionals, one Airman here and his wife got to experience their child’s birth from the “comfort” of their own home.

Staff Sgt. David Hayes, of the 347th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, quickly turned into a delivery doctor when his wife, Charlotte, went into labor and delivered their second child in their home bathroom recently.

“I was putting stuff in the car to go to the hospital and Charlotte yelled my name and said ‘The head’s out!’” Sergeant Hayes said as he described the birth of his daughter, Caysie.

After seeing his wife giving birth in the bathroom, he immediately ran to grab the phone to dial 911.

“Just as I got back in there, the baby (slid) all the way out and into my hands,” he said. “She was very slippery, and I was scared I was going to drop her.”

Amazingly, the baby came out crying and required very little medical attention immediately after the delivery. Sergeant Hayes patted Caysie on the back to ensure she was breathing well and followed other instructions provided by the emergency responders on the phone, including wrapping her in towels to keep her warm until the ambulance arrived.

Mrs. Hayes, in her 39th week of the pregnancy, said she began to feel pressure the night before and expected the birth in the next few days. Once her contractions began, however, they were only five minutes apart, which many doctors consider is time to go to the hospital.

After experiencing false labor with her first pregnancy, she was concerned this was the same feeling and then, for a period of time, the contractions appeared to stop.

“I thought the contractions were not that bad and then I thought they stopped, so I told my husband I was OK,” she said. “The next thing I knew, the contractions were getting closer and closer and the pain was getting worse and worse, so I told David to call our friend who was going to watch over our other daughter.”

When their friend, Tara Brooking, arrived she heard a baby crying.

“I knocked several times and no one answered. I heard a baby crying and was hoping it was the television,” said Ms. Brooking, whose husband also works in the 347th AMXX. “Then David came to the door and said the baby was already here. It was very exciting and shocking that it all happened so fast.”

Sergeant Hayes said everything happened too fast to panic.

“There really wasn’t any time to panic; it was really just a natural reaction,” he said. “There was a baby coming out and I knew I had to do something.”

Compared to the hospital birth of their first daughter, Madison, who is almost 2 years old, this one had its own benefits and drawbacks, the couple said.

“With Madison, the labor lasted forever,” Mrs. Hayes said. “This one was quicker, which I liked, but I would have much rather had her in a hospital.”

“With the last one, I was wondering what my role in the process was,” Sergeant Hayes said of Madison’s birth. “With this one, my role was obvious, because I was the only one there who could help out.”

Mrs. Hayes said she was very thankful for her makeshift delivery doctor.

“It all happened so quickly,” she said. “I was just so grateful he was there to catch her, because I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

“What’s ironic is when she first started going into labor, I kept telling her to let me know when we need to go to the hospital, because I didn’t want to have this baby at home,” Sergeant Hayes said. “I didn’t even want to cut the umbilical chord and here I am delivering the baby.”

Sergeant Hayes said he still did not have to cut the chord; that was done by the emergency medical technicians when the ambulance arrived.

Although his colleagues joked with him about cross-training into a medical career field, Sergeant Hayes said he hoped this would be his last baby delivery.

The couple had initially discussed having another child, but said this birthing experience was enough for them.

“It was an amazing experience for sure,” Sergeant Hayes said. “It is a story that will be told over and over again.”