David Hererra, Dad, Delivers Baby In Hospital When Doctor Is Missing

A small survey from The Practicing Midwife out of the UK recently found that many fathers don't feel included enough in their wives’ birth experience. David Hererra is not one of those dads. KENS5 reports that he delivered his fourth baby, Isabel -– in the hospital -– when the doctor was nowhere in sight.

Hererra's wife, Isabel Delgado, was in the delivery room at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in Westover Hills, Texas on March 25th when she was ready to push. Hererra sent his nephew to find the doctor, but the boy was unsuccessful. The family later learned that the one on-call doctor was called into an emergency delivery, KENS5 reports.

There was a nurse in the room, but Delgado looked at her husband and said, "You can do this," she told the news station.

Herrera put on surgical gloves, recalled the delivery of his first three sons and remembered what the doctor did. Everything went smoothly, but happened very quickly. The couple forgot to note the time their new daughter was born. "We looked at the clock, and we were like, 'Maybe five minutes ago,'" Delgado said.

The hospital sent the following statement to KENS5:

"We take patient concerns seriously and conduct internal reviews surrounding patient concerns. Labor and Delivery nurses are trained to deliver babies when delivery of the baby is imminent." - CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System.

A new study has found that, on average, labor now takes two hours longer than it did 50 years ago. But when moms, like Delgado, don’t fit into that mold, sometimes it’s dad to the rescue. Recently, dad Brent Farrell of Stapleford, U.K. had to knock down the bathroom door that his partner had accidentally locked to deliver their child. Just a few days earlier, Jeremiah Hoylman of Keokuk County, Iowa had to pull over and deliver his baby on the side of a road because his wife’s water had broken and he knew they wouldn’t make it to the hospital.

From our partners

• 25 Signs That You Are About To Go Into Labor - Mommyish
• 'Dutch Babies Sleep' And Other European Parenting Secrets - BabyCenter
• 7 Great Books That Explain The Birds And The Bees - Circle of Moms

Comments

[Yorksgal]

06:53 PM on 04/17/2012

Why do doctors have to deliver babies anyway? Midwifes are more than capable and should be allowed to do this as the norm.

I was an at home birth and delivered by a mid-wife.

[chaifreak]

12:50 PM on 04/17/2012

My first two were with a midwife. Very little tearing, no stitches, near constant-attendance of midwives. My third was with an OB who was also late to arrive on the scene, and I ended up with a ton of stitches. I was actually ordered by one of the nurses to "Stop pushing!" until the OB turned up. That's like telling the earth not rotate - I'll never understand the medical community.

[Antidiot]

11:31 AM on 04/16/2012

If they have any more maybe they won't include the hospital at all.

[slocomgp]

10:41 AM on 04/15/2012

Hopefully they got a discount on the bill.

[85Percent]

01:09 AM on 04/15/2012

I had a close call with my last kid. The doctor on call seemed to be some sort of resident, and he went MIA. The nurses were paging him like crazy, but he did not think I could possibly have suddenly dilated enough to be delivering so he did not respond until nearly too late. They were tearing down the hall trying to get me into the delivery room, and I was sure the baby would get there first. I think some other mom had just that instant been wheeled out of that delivery room as they rolled me in, and the doctor who assisted with her delivery just stayed where he was and caught my son. This was nearly forty years ago. I think the nurses would have helped me just fine....the medical profession had not gotten so scared of lawsuits by then.

[sanjagtl]

11:41 PM on 04/14/2012

I'm pretty sure the Doctor will still charge them his fee

[Lisa1129]

05:26 PM on 04/14/2012

I bet the doctor was playing golf that day.

[ashley morrow]

03:45 PM on 04/14/2012

i'm glad there was a happy ending to this story for once! i was in labor with my 2nd daughter and my nurse almost had to deliver her because my dr was in another room delivering. i understand that the nurse probably has guides she has but i mean really?

[jemteku]

03:01 PM on 04/14/2012

Way to go, Daddy! Cool story.

[Outdated cowboy]

12:09 PM on 04/14/2012

They better get a discount from the hospital, or just pay the lawsuit off! What if something would have gone wrong.

[MakroCookies]

01:08 PM on 04/14/2012

Sadly, this happened to my husband and me while I was in labor with twins. My doctor simply disappeared. He thought I would be in labor much longer. My husband did his best to help me but he couldn't deliver them on his own. The nurses didn't want to touch me for fear of a lawsuit. They paged the doctor and paged him. As a result, one of my sons died from lack of oxygen. People believe this cannot happen in a hospital in America but it does. I urge families to be advocates for their babies. Demand help...scream and yell if you have to. It can mean the difference between your child living or dying. That poor dad (and mom) should not have had to do it alone within the walls of a hospital. Thank goodness their baby is ok!

[pam0528]

03:19 PM on 04/14/2012

F&F, sorry that you lost a child. I just hope your famiy is doing fine now. God be with you.

[Outdated cowboy]

08:26 AM on 04/15/2012

So Sorry for your baby. I'm glad your other baby is well. For all the good nurses and doctors in this country we still have our share of incompetants who have no business thinking they are professionals.

[4 Wheeler]

01:39 PM on 04/14/2012

I agree, that doctor better not think of sending these people a bill, and Where was the nurses, as they said have the training to deliver??????????????

[nightstigers]

02:39 PM on 04/15/2012

they were there she said but nurses are so afraid of stepping in because if they do and something goes wrong it's a lawsuit against them :/

[stephanniebeman]

11:52 AM on 04/14/2012

It's not that uncommon and in many cases a doctor isn't needed at all. My aunt delivered her son at the entrance to the hospital as her husband was parking the car. Her labor lasted the hour drive there. I know a nurse who delivered twins while sitting on the toilet at home one night. Thought she had to pee and her daughter popped out. Her son was born 30 minutes later when the MTs arrived at the house.

I think a lot depends on how fast the delivery is. When my second child was born I went from 5 centimeters to fully dilated in about an hour. She came out so quick my husband barely had time to call for the nurse before he had to catch her. The nurse was shaking so bad my husband had to clamp the cord, cut it, and carry her for the nurse. The doctor was eating dinner in the cafeteria and showed up seconds after all was said and done.

[pam0528]

03:18 PM on 04/14/2012

F&F, beautiful story, glad that your child is okay.

[cedelune]

11:55 PM on 04/23/2012

Clamping and cutting the cord is about the least important thing to be done at a birth. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by rushing this, and everything to be gained by leaving it at alone, for at least 3 minutes and all the way up to when it dries up and falls off on its own ("lotus birth"). Leaving the cord alone can even save a life, or prevent brain damage. The disadvantages of a cut cord are numerous, including baby not getting its full blood volume, and baby being unnecessarily separated from mother at exactly the time when it shouldn't be anywhere but on her body.

[junelee0319]

11:12 AM on 04/14/2012

Bet they still get a bill from the missing doctor........

[natal plum]

11:26 AM on 04/14/2012

Yeah, problem is the insurance company gets the bill and they will pay it regardless of what the doctor did or didn't do or whether the patient protests of not. It is simply paid AND the doctor is well aware of that - that is why he will submit a bill anyway.

[Mara45]

10:18 AM on 04/14/2012

Point of grammar. The mother always delivers the baby. The doctor, husband or other helper is just assisting in the delivery.

[myngbl]

12:43 PM on 04/14/2012

F&F'd thank you .. that baby was entering the world regardless........as they always do.

[DB4America]

09:42 AM on 04/14/2012

The hospital should not bill this couple for their stay in exchange for not being sued for negligence. Only one doctor on call? Ridiculous. What if there were complications? I certainly wouldn't trust a nurse that won't even do her job.The prices for medical services keeps going up, yet staff is constantly being cut to save money at facilities all over the country. Someone is certainly lining their pockets. Seems the hospital did little more than provide a bed and room. If the doctor does bill them, he should be sued for fraud, as he did not provide the services he is billing for. Kudos to this husband for a job well done, and congratulations on your newest addition.

[nvdesertdreamer]

12:56 PM on 04/14/2012

Staff is not being cut to save money, it is being cut to raise profits.

[gin11153]

11:12 PM on 04/23/2012

Staff cannot be cut because there are manditory staffing levels. In Labor and Delivery, it's 1 nurse to 2 patients until one patient starts pushing, then it's 1:1.

[gin11153]

11:11 PM on 04/23/2012

No grounds for a lawsuit for negligence or anything else because there were no damages. Staff cannot be cut because there are manditory staffing levels. In Labor and Delivery, it's 1 nurse to 2 patients until one patient starts pushing, then it's 1:1.

[Just Little Old Me]

09:24 AM on 04/14/2012

I am glad mom and the baby are doing well. With that being said, I hope that the state of Texas does a major investigation of 1) why a major hospital has only ONE doctor on duty; 2) why the nurse just stood there and did NOTHING, did NOT even record the time of the birth. I hope the hospital will be fined and the hospital will NOT bill this couple NOR their insurance (that is if they are fortunate in this day and age to be able to afford health insurance).

[gin11153]

11:14 PM on 04/23/2012

The hospital doesn't hire the doctor. Doctors are in a private practice group and 1 is on call each night-the group rotates being on call. Not the doctor's fault when he has 2 patients in labor at the same time as no one can tell baby #2 to wait until #1 in another delivery room is born and mom is stable so the doc can leave the room.