“He was just talking [to dispatch] like it was nothing to him,’ a police officer noted of 13-year-old Miguel Dominguez.
A “cool-headed” 13-year-old boy in Long Island, N.Y., helped deliver his pregnant aunt’s baby – with an invaluable assist from a police dispatcher and a responding officer.
In a statement shared on Friday, August 2, the Southampton Town Police Department said it received a 911 call that day from the boy, who said his aunt was in labor. That was when public safety dispatcher Christopher Brenner began to give the boy childbirth instructions.
“While on the phone with PSD Brenner giving birthing/medical instructions, and the assistance of the cool-headed actions of a 12-year-old child, the mother successfully delivered a healthy baby boy,” the department’s statement read.
Meanwhile, police officer James C. Cavanagh arrived at the home where the birth took place and helped care for the mother and her newborn, police added.
The 13-year-old hero was identified by the Riverhead News-Review as Miguel Dominguez of Flanders, N.Y. He told the newspaper that he was drawing in his room when he heard his pregnant aunt screaming in the bathroom as she was in labor. As a result, the aunt had to be taken from the bathroom to the living room.
Miguel later recalled his conversation with Brenner when he dialed 911: “The officer told me I had to take care of my aunt.”
Cavanagh also told the Riverhead News-Review that he witnessed the phone conversation between Miguel and Brenner after he arrived at the home as the birth was taking place. He said that Brenner gave instructions to Miguel, who then relayed them back in Spanish to his mom who was also present.
“[Brenner] was telling the child to secure the umbilical cord,” Cavanagh said. “So I ran back to my car to let the ambulance know that there’s an active birth happening, and grab my medical equipment.”
But when Cavanagh returned, the healthy newborn was already in his blanket.
The police department said that a volunteer ambulance took the mother and baby to Peconic Bay Medical Center.
This wasn’t Miguel’s first experience in child birthing, as he previously helped a relative who went into labor unexpectedly several years ago, the Riverhead News-Review reported.
“I’ve done this before,” Miguel told the newspaper.
The police concluded its statement by praising the emergency responders: “Thanks to professionalism and diligence of all involved both mother and child are resting and healthy at the hospital.”
Cavanagh hailed Miguel’s handling of the situation, telling the Riverhead News-Review: “He was just talking [to dispatch] like it was nothing to him. It was pretty impressive.”