EDMONTON — As a paramedic, it’s something he’s trained to do, but never in his wildest dreams did Mark Davies imagine he would have to deliver his own baby.
“I’ve had a few close calls,” he said, “but when you’re delivering your own son it’s obviously a lot more stressful and intense.”
Little Sawyer was born in the wee hours of Oct. 7, weighing in at a healthy 7 lbs. 2 oz., but his entrance into the world was anything but ordinary.
Davies’ wife, Meghan Myers, woke up at around 1 a.m. that morning and felt as though something was happening.
“I knew that something was coming, but I knew that I still had a little bit of time, at least 12 hours because with my first son we had a little bit of time.”
Myers went back to bed, but then she started to feel contractions. They quickly started getting closer and closer together, so Myers woke up her husband and told him it was time to get to the hospital.
As Davies was bringing the car around, Myers’ water broke and their baby was on his way.
“I felt that the baby was coming so I started to yell at Mark outside saying, ‘the baby’s coming! The baby’s coming!'”
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Putting his paramedic skills into action, Davies ran back inside and instructed his wife to lie down on the floor. And while he’s never delivered a baby before, there was no time like the present.
“It was a bit overwhelming because I was trying to call 911, I had Meghan who was in a bit of distress and then my three-and-a-half-year-old son, he was obviously upset because he didn’t know what was going on,” Davies recalled.
Not five minutes later, before the EMS crew arrived, Sawyer was born.
“I didn’t really have time to think… It was just so fast,” said Myers. “There really was no time to panic or anything like that. It was very surreal.”
Davies said his paramedic training came in handy, but there is truly no way to properly prepare yourself for that situation.
“I couldn’t go through the step-by-step process just because it happened all so quickly,” he said. “Everything happened within the span of about five minutes, so you don’t have time to think you just kind of have to react and do your best.
“Hopefully next time if I have to do it on the job I’ll be perfect, I’ll be ready to go.”
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And while it was fast, Myers knew she was always in very capable hands.
“I couldn’t have done it without him.”
The ambulance arrived a short time after Sawyer was born and took the family to the hospital.
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