Calif. Firefighter Delivers Third Baby in Six Years

July 28--Not many people outside of the medical profession can say they've delivered a baby. Even for many first responders, legitimate child-birth calls are rare.

"About 90 percent or greater of the child birth calls turn out to be mothers having contractions," San Bernardino County firefighter David Bonney said Friday. "This one definitely turned out to be the real deal."

For the third time, early Tuesday morning, Bonney delivered a child.

Bonney and the crew of Station 2 in Devore were dispatched to a woman having a baby on Kenwood Drive under the 15 Freeway overpass at the south end of the Cajon Pass.

As they approached, Bonney noticed a man standing by the open passenger's side door of a sport utility vehicle frantically waving at the fire engine.

What the first responders didn't see is Jason Motley holding his daughter's head trying to keep calm as the child's umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.

"It was the scariest moment in my life," said Jason Motley of Pinon Hills. "I didn't know what was going on. I never felt so helpless in my life."

As Bonney walked over to Motley he could see how serious the situation really was.

"The baby was blue," Bonney recalled. "At that point, this was considered a complicated birth and I didn't know what other complications there were going to be."

After slipping the cord from around the baby girl's neck and delivering the child, she was still blue and silent.

Rescuers worked and after a few minutes she began to show more vigorous signs of life until she let out her first cry.

"It was at that time that I looked at my wife, Amber, and smiled at her and I told her I loved her," Motley said.

Then, when Bonney felt the child had been stabilized and was out of danger, he handed Motley some scissors allowing the second-time father to cut the umbilical cord.

It took 10 minutes from the time the firefighters received the call to the time the child was born, said county fire spokeswoman Tracey Martinez.

Bonney rode with mother and child in the American Medical Response ambulance to San Bernardino Community Hospital.

"They both looked great," Bonney said.

Bonney said his wife's water broke early Tuesday morning. The couple were on their way to Redlands Community Hospital for delivery of the baby when they realized they weren't going to make it.

"I had to make the decision of turning around and fighting Bear Valley (Road) traffic to make it to a hospital up the hill or keep going and call 9-1-1," Bonney said.

He felt he made the right decision.

On Friday, the first time Bonney and Motley had spoken since Tuesday morning's special delivery, Motley repeatedly thanked the six-year-veteran of the county Fire Department.

"Three babies in six years!" Bonney exclaimed. "I guess I'm glad to have someone with experience delivering babies."

Copyright 2012 - San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.