Watch CBS News

911 Dispatcher, Stony Brook EMTs Help New Mom Deliver Premature Twin Boys

STONY BROOK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A new mom on Long Island who delivered one of her twins sons with the help of a 911 dispatcher has offered her thanks to emergency responders.

As CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan reported, most babies arrive on their own schedule. The 48-year-old new mom from Stony Brook learned that firsthand when her twin boys came nearly three months early.

The newborn boys are tiny, weighing just over two pounds each. They are in incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit at a local hospital, where they will spend the next few months, McLogan reported.

Their emotional mom said she felt the babies coming while she was home getting ready for work and called 911.

"It happened very quickly, but I believe I probably said something like, I think I'm giving birth," the new mom told McLogan.

On the other end of the frantic 911 call was emergency dispatcher Christine Springer.

"I asked her to lay down. With her next contraction, I told her to push and the baby came out," said Springer. "I had her clean the baby's nose and mouth out and she tapped the baby's back and feet and then the baby started to cry."

Springer had already alerted Stony Brook Fire Department EMTs, who were rushing to the home.

"She was aware she was having twins. We didn't know that, but she knew," Stony Brook Fire Chief Scott Roberts told McLogan.

When the EMTs arrived, they grabbed sterile birthing kits and got to work.

"We had to stay calm to keep the mom calm. As soon as we walked in, the first baby had just come out; clipped the cord," EMT Eric Weissbard said.

The EMTs began cleaning off the tiny premature newborn.

"The was the best but worst-case scenario of delivery I've ever had," EMT Kevin O'Leary said.

The babies were coming early, at just 27 and a half weeks. To complicate matters further, the next brother was breach.

"To see something that small not breathing, no pulse, is just mind-boggling," said O'Leary.

The first responders relied on their training to get both newborns breathing and then raced the babies and their new mom to the hospital.

"An overwhelming feeling. The emotion was crazy. But you just do what you're taught," EMT Krista Marzano told McLogan.

"They were just wonderful and they made me feel so comforted. They knew what they were doing, they took control and helped deliver my sons," said the new mom.

The twin boys are thriving at the NICU.

The twins' parents say it does indeed take a village.

You May Also Be Interested In These Stories

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.