A Contra Costa County Fire Protection District dispatcher’s cool head helped a couple deliver a baby girl Sunday on Highway 4, officials said.
At 1:04 p.m., a dispatcher received a call about a woman in labor in westbound lanes of Highway 4 near the bypass to Highway 160, Contra Costa fire Capt. Lisa Martinez said.
The dispatcher, Janin Campbell, is a 22-year employee with plenty of experience dealing with childbirths.
“She’s delivered many, talked people through delivering a baby,” Martinez said.
Campbell first asked the couple, who had pulled their black 2013 Volkswagen over to the right-hand shoulder, where they were, then asked them what was happening.
“She’s going into hard labor, and the baby is coming,” the man said.
“Tell her to take deep breaths between contractions,” Campbell said. “Tell me if you see any part of the baby.”
When the father said he saw the head, Campbell talked him through helping his wife give birth, and the baby arrived at 1:10 p.m.: “Deep breath, deep breath … Okay, she’s out!”
When the baby began to cry, Campbell said “That’s a good sound, that’s what we want to hear.”
Two fire engines with the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District and an ambulance also responded, and paramedics took the baby and her parents to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.
Check back for updates.
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
