ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A mother and her newborn have emergency responders in Alpharetta to thank after giving birth in her home.
It's a sweet reunion almost a week in the making. On Friday, firefighters and the mother who had to deliver in her home met for the first time since the special delivery.
“The little head emerged and right as I looked over my shoulder the heroes were there,” Brenda Smith said with a smile, as she met the firefighter who helped deliver her granddaughter.
Her daughter, Kayla Hafidi, had been in labor for hours but couldn’t get admitted into the hospital.
“When I went home, basically things just progressed and ratcheted up but the bulb never came out,” Hafidi said. “So I kept thinking, 'she’s not coming, I don’t understand what going on right now because if she’s not progressing something is wrong."'
With the pain intensifying, they decided to attempt to make it to the hospital a second time, but didn’t make it far.
“By the time I got down the stairs, (my) water broke, (the) bulb came out, and the baby started coming out” Kayla said.
They then called 911..
"Oh my gosh, the baby is trying to come," Smith said to the dispatcher during that 911 call. The 911 operator quickly responded that help is on the way.
With the help of the Alpharetta 911 dispatcher, grandma and mom began the delivery process. Luckily, within minutes, emergency crews showed up to help bring baby Leah into the world.
Days later, crews presented the family with flowers, diapers and a video message from that dispatcher. Firefighter Josh Schuman, who took over the delivery process was also on hand.
“It was awesome, just to be able to see them in a calmed down situation and to be able to see the baby and see how beautiful she is,” Schuman said.
Those same sentiments were echoed by mom and grandma.
“Amazingly wonderful experience,” Smith said.
"We’ll forever be bonded with you guys. I just feel extremely grateful, those three people who were there were exactly the three people who needed to be there and the dispatcher also,” Kayla added.
Surprisingly this wasn’t the only delivery the department helped with that day. They also delivered another baby that mom and baby are also doing well.
A huge kudos to all the first responders who helped these families safely bring their babies into the world.