Jamie Bernier expected give birth around her due date of March 18. Instead, the 34-year-old Forest Hill woman suddenly went into labor early Saturday morning.
When she did, two medics from the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company were on hand for the unexpected delivery, helping to ensure Bernier's health as she gave birth to her son, Cole, right in her Forest Lakes neighborhood.
"Once they got there, they were so calm," Bernier said Sunday afternoon from Bel Air's University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. "If they hadn't gotten there, I don't know what would have happened."
Paramedic Danielle Ward and Emergency Medical Technician Christopher Parker, based at the fire company's Forest Hill substation, were dispatched to the Berniers' house at about 3:30 a.m. for a pregnancy call, Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association spokesperson Rich Gardiner reported on Facebook.
Just minutes after picking her up, at 3:56 a.m., the unit pulled to the side of the road, "called for additional manpower, and successfully delivered a baby boy in the back of the medic unit at 3:57 a.m.," Gardiner reported.
The crew arrived at the hospital with the mother and baby doing well at about 4:15 a.m., Gardiner said.
The volunteer crew of Sgt. Will Prive and firefighter Tyler Smith, from the Forest Hill substation, assisted with the delivery.
Bernier said Ward and Parker had to call for assistance with driving while they delivered the baby.
"We hadn't even made it to Forest Lakes Elementary School," she said "They pulled over right after I delivered him."
The school is in Bernier's neighborhood.
The first responders were fully prepared, telling Bernier's husband on the phone to get a shoelace in case he needed to tie off the umbilical cord before they got there, Bernier said.
"They were fantastic," she said. "They were literally amazing."
Bernier, who also has a 3-year-old daughter, went home Monday. Cole, meanwhile, was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit at Baltimore's University of Maryland Medical Center on Tuesday.
Bernier thanked the first responders on Facebook for their efforts.
"Baby Cole is doing very well thanks to both Danielle Ward & Christopher Parker," she wrote. "I can't thank you guys enough! He was born at 32 weeks so he's being monitored closely and will be for the next few weeks. Danielle & Christopher were amazing. They got there just in time to avoid a very not expected home birth."
"Congratulations to Medic 394's crew from the Forest Hill station," Gardiner and fellow Fire & EMS Association spokesperson Jenn Chenworth-Price posted on Facebook. "A much needed happy moment after all these providers have been through in the past couple of weeks."
"The BAVFC wishes the mom, baby and family all the best," Gardiner added.