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Dad Delivers Doc in Snowstorm for Pregnant Wife
The stories of dads delivering their own babies in a snowstorm are a dime a dozen, but one dad New Jersey dad wasn’t going to let the East Coast’s “snowpocalypse” keep a doc from delivering his little boy.
Dad-to-be John Elwood hopped in the car and drove to the home of his wife’s doctor, delivering the OB/GYN to her at the hospital, so he could deliver their son.
The Press of Atlantic City reports the storm had taken out the power at Dr. Edward Sung’s home, which meant the power garage door opener wouldn’t open. So although Tanya Elwood had made it through the storm to a hospital, Sung couldn’t do the same.
After the story last week about the dad who was forced to deliver his baby because hospital staff simply ignored his calls for help, this one made me smile. Tanya told the newspaper she wanted her doctor and no other at her bedside, and her husband wanted her to have her wish.
Having a great rapport with my OB (my neighbor went in for her annual recently and he asked how my daughter was doing these days), I can relate. I was induced in large part because my daughter started showing signs of distress, but the date of my induction was also partly chosen by me because I knew “my” doctor would be on call the day of my inducement (by which point I was already eight days past my due date) as well as the day after – so I was guaranteed to have him there. Two days after my induction date another doctor was on call, and before my daughter’s heart rate had slipped we were given the option of waiting until then to give birth. Based on his treatment of me during those “must see all doctors in the practice” visits, it wasn’t just me who said no. My husband did not want me or our baby in his hands.
Having had “my” OB there for the moment reduced my stress level immensely, and that alone helped birth along. Were you set on having one doctor/midwife over another?
Image: Press of Atlantic City
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2 Comments
PlumbLucky commented on Feb 08 10 at 11:23 amHecks yes! Believe me, it was greatly preferred by both me and my hubby to have MY doc deliver our baby. (I delivered at a non teaching hospital, and the doctors in his practice only deliver another doctor’s “baby” in case of emergency, really.) I was comfortable with most of the other docs in his practice, but I only had to list three others in my file of “just in case your doctor is out of town or deathly ill, who do you want”. My induction date (well past my DD) was chosen partially because he was available that day and had no known surgeries/procedures/and a light patient load that day.
Foxy Kate commented on Feb 24 10 at 10:56 amAbsolutely. I hadn’t met the midwife who was there for the birth of my oldest, but it wasn’t until after I’d had over 50 people in the delivery room for the birth of my high risk twins at a teaching hospital that I realized the value of knowing your birth attendants. I had known the doc who was on call and my husband, but the other 48 people were strangers! I ended up going with a midwife for my fourth who was in solo practice even though it meant traveling to a hospital that was far out of my way for my fourth. This is why a birth assistant or doula is such a fantastic idea – studies show that one support person who is not your partner who is able to stay and be there and just offer love and care to a laboring women can ease their stress & improve delivery outcomes.
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