Baby delivered at St. Clair County home with help of deputy, emergency dispatcher
VINCENT, Ala. (WBMA) — Caleb Wise was the closest person when he got the call. By the time he got to the house Thursday morning he found a 19-year-old girl very ready to give birth. The baby's head was crowning and there was nobody else but the teenager's grandmother on the scene. There was no time left so Wise rolled up his sleeves and got to work to help deliver a baby.
"Just constant reassurance, telling her she's doing a great job which she did," Wise recalled, "I mean to be 19-years-old and this is her first child, she did a phenomenal job, very strong young woman."
If it sounds like Wise is speaking from experience it's because he is. The deputy was forced to deliver a baby during a similar call on Christmas Eve 2017.
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"It doesn't matter how many times you do it. You know if it's not your profession, you're going to be nervous doing it...but I also have reassurance the entire time for me, the mother, the grandmother."
The reassurance came in large part from St. Clair County Telecommunicator Tina Davis. Technology called The Prepared Live APP allowed Davis to watch and guide Wise through the delivery process.
Ryan Howell was born at 9:54 a.m. The healthy baby boy weighed in at 7 pounds, 19 inches long. Wise said Howell and his mother are both doing fine.
"It's just always nice to have a positive situation to be a part of. You know to show that we are out there doing the best that we can. It is 'Serve and Protect,' and this was a lot more the serve side of that and (I) just enjoy being part of that."
