911 operator calmly walks expectant mom through a surprise at-home delivery
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — When a 911 call came in saying a woman in Nashville was experiencing sudden labor, emergency operator Kaitlyn Kramer says her training kicked in as she successfully coached the expectant mom and bystanders through delivering a healthy baby boy.
Audio of the July 7 call reveals Kramer’s calm voice guiding the process even as the voices on the other end grew frantic as the mother’s water broke and the baby’s head started crowning.
Kramer is a training officer for Nashville’s Department of Emergency Communications.
“Whatever the call comes in, you have to be able to maintain control,” Kramer said, adding that she had to remember to stay calm herself.
“We’re going to do this together,” Kramer told a friend of the mother’s over the phone. Moments later, the caller is yelling with excitement that the baby arrived, but mentioned that the cord was wrapped around his neck.
Kramer said the bystanders were able to free the baby and soon enough, Kramer could hear his first wails over the phone.
“When I think of a baby being first born, the biggest thing for me is I want to hear them cry,” said Kramer. “And he did that on his own.”
The whole call lasted about 8 minutes before the ambulance arrived and Kramer got to congratulate the mother and bystanders on a job well done. The family did not respond to a request for an interview.
“I think my favorite part about this whole situation was there was also another younger child in the room, maybe between the ages of seven and 10 years old,” Kramer said “She started talking to the baby, welcoming him to the world. And that absolutely just melted my heart.”
Kramer said this is the second time she has helped during a delivery over the 911 hotline.
“We get a lot of sad here. Our job is hard,” Kramer said. “This is one of the reasons that remind me that what I do is important ... it just it makes me happy to do what I do.”