Man Delivers Baby With Instructions Found On Internet

By John Farrier in Blogs & Internet on Dec 16, 2009 at 6:58 am

When Emma Smith of Leytonstone, UK, went into labor, her husband Leroy realized that they wouldn’t be able to get to the hospital in time. He then used his BlackBerry to find instructions online on how to deliver a child:

So the 29-year-old grabbed hold of his BlackBerry, accessed the internet and sought help from search engine Google for step-by-step instructions.

And after following the detailed guide on the internet’s wikiHow Emma safely gave birth to daughter 6lb 11oz Mahalia Merita Angela Smith.

Five minutes after the delivery the midwife arrived to cut the umbilical cord of their fourth child.

Link via Gizmodo | Photo: US Department of Health and Human Services

Tags: Blackberry, childbirth, Leroy Smith

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Skipweasel
Dec 16th, 2009 at 7:48 am
“Quick, bring me hot water and a broadband connection.”
Miss Cellania
Dec 16th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Reminds me of this one:

http://www.neatorama.com/2009/05/03/youtube-helps-man-deliver-baby/
Lostfiniel
Dec 16th, 2009 at 8:59 am
If I was having a baby and my husband pulled out his BlackBerry, I’d probably bite his head off. Unless he was using it to call an ambulance.
Splint Chesthair
Dec 16th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Watch him get a citation for something or other, illegally practicing a medical procedure or something or other. Don’t say it won’t happen.
Gauldar
Dec 16th, 2009 at 9:24 am
@Splint Chesthair

It won’t happen. Delivering a birth is not a medical practice, it’s just that if anything is wrong with the birth, they are able to tend to the issue immediately. It’s not uncommon for women to have birth outside of the hospital either, and sometimes it’s a choice women make.
Karin in Orlando
Dec 16th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Something about this story doesn’t sound right. Why would he have a mid-wife available to show up within just a few minutes if he had planned to take his wife to the hospital to begin with? Sounds to me like this was planned to be a home birth from the start.
Katthe7th
Dec 16th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
It’s possible he called emergency services BEFORE getting on the blackberry. When it’s clear the baby is coming too quickly for the mother to be safely moved, it’s common to call for help. Where this guy’s quick thinking came in was looking up what to do in the meantime while waiting for the help to arrive.

And yes, planning to birth at home is a perfectly valid choice, and much more common for low risk pregnancies (which this one apparently was!) in other countries than it is in the US.
Ivory
Dec 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
In the UK, you have the option to have a MW at home, or an OB in the hospital – both are covered by the NHS, and it is not at all uncommon for low-risk women to choose a homebirth, and a midwife is likely on call at all times for calls just like these.
Splint Chesthair
Dec 16th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
@Gauldar

Unlicensed midwifes attending to a birth can be charged with a felony in some states and countries. If the state were, for some reason, to believe that the homebirth was planned, it’s possible they might state that the father was acting as an unlicensed midwife.

Would it really surprise you to see such a story? I never thought it was likely to happen, just that I could see such a story in the future. What if the baby died because the father screwed up? You don’t think someone might get a hair up their butt?
halieus
Dec 16th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Psh, Real men don’t need instructions.
dooflotchie
Dec 16th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
See, you really *CAN* find instructions for just about anything online!
Aron
Dec 16th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Karin, many midwives go with couples to the hospital for the birth. I don’t know why they’d lie about that, since it’s already been mentioned that there’s no penalty for planning a home birth.
Cola
Dec 16th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Sorry I keep posting under my boyfriend’s name on his computer. Anyway, my best friend was born at home. He just came too fast for his parents to reach the hospital. The first emergency services to reach him was the fire department, and because he was born with a hole in his heart, they had to stick a balloon in it to save his life. Or something like that.

It happens, especially with later pregnancies (my mother’s third child was born within two hours of the onset of labour). I would be surprised to hear about this story again.
Gauldar
Dec 16th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
@Splint Chesthair

I take it this is all speculation? Unexpected birth time happens, but if you want to go crazy and set up an inspection of these people’s lives for planning a home birth, all the power to ya. Good luck with that in court.
Katthe7th
Dec 16th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Giving birth at home is not illegal in any state, FYI.

Midwifery practices have varying levels of regulation and non-regulation from state to state.

As noted, this couple are in London where planned home birth is much more commonplace, and midwives are respected as the valuable birth professionals they truly are.

In any case, a father following emergency instructions for assisting at the birth of his own child would not be charged, regardless of outcome, unless it were clear intentional harm was done to the child (as sickening as it is to contemplate).
ted
Dec 16th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Something weird about the story. It’s their fourth child; they have a midwife. Wouldn’t they have learned something from the experience with the first three? Plus, if they have a midwife, presumably they’d be the sort of people to go to child birth classes.

Something fishy, like they’re trying to get attention – “I looked it up on my Blackberry”.
jamesB
Dec 17th, 2009 at 2:00 am
We had a midwife meet my wife and I at the hospital for both of our girls. The first time the doctor never even came in, and the second time it was just for a few minutes. It was a good way to go.
Splint Chesthair
Dec 17th, 2009 at 8:33 am
@Gauldar

yes, I was just giving a specualtive satirical take on the situation. I don’t believe these people should be in trouble. I was saying that it wouldn’t surprise me if, for example, the baby was injured during the birth and some investigator found online postings or something about the intention of the couple to plan a home birth. Then, having this information, attempting to charge the husband with practicing as an unlicensed midwife, which is illegal in some areas.

And absolutely it would be ridiculous, but my entire point was “wouldn’t it be funny if…”
Splint Chesthair
Dec 17th, 2009 at 8:34 am
@Gauldar
and please, by all means, forgive me for engaging in speculation on the internet.
Gauldar
Dec 17th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
@Splint Chesthair

No apology needed, I was just wondering what exactly your angle was and if there actually was some twisted lawyer that managed to find another loophole in the law to sue people for profit, and if you were basing it on current information. It’s true, if a lawyer can sue a store which caters to disabled people for not having a disabled parking spot, a lot is possible.
kombizz
Dec 18th, 2009 at 7:13 am
I wish i knew more about it so i dump my partner!
Chemommy
Dec 18th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
@Karin in Orlando

Mid-Wives are also used at a hospital. I will give birth in the next 4 weeks at a local hospital but have the choice to use a mid-wife.

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