Texas Paramedics, Firefighters Deliver Baby

July 16--Crystal Monds planned on having her baby at a hospital.

Little John had other ideas.

Three hours after going into labor Tuesday morning, Monds, 30, gave birth to John Martinez in the back of an ambulance with the help of a MedStar paramedic, EMT and two Saginaw firefighters.

"It's the fastest delivery I've had," Monds said in a telephone interview from Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, where she and John -- her sixth child -- were recovering. "They [paramedics and firefighters] were just great."

Saginaw firefighters had responded to a call of a possible childbirth about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday in the 1000 block of Westgrove Drive.

Saginaw fire Lt. Brian Meroney said the mother was having contractions when they arrived.

"We sent Dad ahead to get the paperwork started at the hospital," Meroney said.

Meroney, fire engineer Mike Deford, paramedic Paul Michner and EMT Frankie Rositas got Monds ready to transport and placed her in the back of a MedStar ambulance.

That's when Mond's contractions became more frequent.

"You roll the dice when it comes to when a baby is coming," Meroney said. "The little guys are the ones in control."

It was the second baby delivered by Saginaw firefighters in a month. A few weeks ago, firefighters delivered a baby in a Saginaw home.

On Tuesday, the emergency workers decided the baby had to be delivered in the ambulance when they saw crowning.

"You don't deliver a baby in a bouncing vehicle, so we became a mobile delivery room," Meroney said.

Michner estimated that he has delivered eight to 10 babies in his 30 years as a paramedic in homes and apartments, but Tuesday was his first in the back of an ambulance.

"It's still nerve-racking," Michner said. "You're dealing with someone so small."

It took the emergency crew about 10 minutes to deliver John, who weighs 9 pounds, 6 ounces and is 22 inches long.

He has four brothers and a sister.

Doctors had planned to induce Monds on Thursday; her due date was July 21.

"I thought I had fake labor pains this morning, and then it turned real," Monds said. "I didn't expect to have my son in an ambulance."

Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-390-7763 Twitter: @mingoramirezjr

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