Newton Police Dispatcher Helps Deliver Baby Over The Phone

NEWTON (CBS) - There was a long distance baby delivery courtesy of a calm Newton Police dispatcher, and a very nervous grandmother last week. And when it was over, mother and baby were doing fine.

The emergency call came in at 10:47 a.m. on Friday. It happened near the Chestnut Hill Mall. A very excited woman calls 911 to say her daughter is having a baby, in a car.

"Send an ambulance. The baby's head is out!" says the grandmother to be.

On the other end of the line is Newton Police dispatcher Kevin Donovan. "I said, 'she's giving birth?' Because we don't get them everyday," Donovan says. "I was nervous, but I just kept my voice controlled."

Kevin realized that help might not get there in time. So he called up his 'giving birth' protocol that takes him step by step, while at the same time, keeping the caller focused.

"When the baby delivers support the baby's head and shoulders and hold its hips and legs firmly," Kevin says on the 911 recording. "At first she didn't want to listen to anything. She just wanted to help her daughter. But as soon as I got her attention, she started listening to me, taking the orders," Donovan says.

Then he heard the baby cry. "It was a relief. The mother was all right, the baby was all right, so it was a good result," he says. "It was awesome. It's like a feel good moment. Going home, I had a little glow about myself after," Kevin says.

That was a first for him.