Firefighters deliver baby

Marisa O’Neil

Usually when firefighters and paramedics get a call, it means

someone’s hurt or injured and needs help.

But on Sunday morning, Newport Beach firefighters faced probably

the best-case scenario they could hope for when a baby just couldn’t

wait to show her face. In fact, the baby was so impatient, she came

before paramedics made it to the scene, meaning the firefighters had

to deliver the baby themselves.

“It was the day after Christmas,” said firefighter Jason Leftige,

who helped deliver the baby. “It was a good Christmas present and a

good way to start the year.”

Because the call came from an unincorporated county area, Newport

Beach firefighters and paramedics from Costa Mesa responded, Newport

Beach Fire Capt. Chip Duncan said.

Firefighters showed up first and the woman, whose name wasn’t

released because of privacy laws, stood waiting at the door of her

apartment.

“Here’s this woman standing at the door with her hands on her

belly,” Duncan said. “She was obviously pregnant. Usually those calls

are pretty ho-hum. But she goes, ‘The baby is coming!’ I was going to

take her seriously.”

About two minutes later, the woman gave birth.

“It was fast,” he said. “She wasn’t kidding.”

All firefighters in Newport Beach have basic emergency medical

training and learn how to deliver a baby, Duncan said. Though baby

delivery calls come every so often, usually the mother has already

given birth, or they have plenty of time to get her to the hospital.

In fact, Duncan hasn’t once had to deliver a baby in his 20 years

on the job in Newport Beach.

Leftige, on the other hand, has delivered two despite having been

on the job less than three months. Before Sunday’s birth, he had to

deliver a baby on his very first shift as a reserve firefighter in

Santa Ana.

“The first time, I was just thrown in there,” Leftige said.

Helping bring a baby into the world is the best call he could hope

to go on, Leftige said.

“You get to see how it happens,” he said. “It’s just, bam -- now

have a little baby in your arms. One second she’s suffering and in

pain, the next she’s holding a baby in her arms.”

Duncan, who has two children of his own, remained modest about

their effort. The woman, he pointed out, did the real work.

“Ladies have been having babies long before emergency medical

technicians and paramedics came along,” he said.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil @latimes.com.