Last week, Dr. Amanda Hess, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Frankfort, Kentucky, checked into Frankfort Regional Medical Center as a patient expecting to give birth to her daughter. Little did she know, she’d end up delivering another woman’s child moments before going into induced labor herself.
Hats off to this #DrMom and member of Physician Moms Group #PMG, Dr. Amanda Hess! This picture was taken minutes after…
Posted by Dr. Hala Sabry on Tuesday, July 25, 2017
While getting ready to give birth to her second child, Hess overheard the cries of Leah Halliday Johnson, who was giving birth to her fourth child. Hess has examined Johnson several times during her pregnancy, so Hess decided to ask a nurse how she was doing.
According to Dr. Hala Sabry, Johnson’s baby was in distress, with the umbilical cord loosely wrapped around the child’s neck. To make matters worse, the on-call doctor had left the hospital to take a break. Nurses had urged Johnson not to push until the doctor arrived, out of fear that the child could be strangled, but the pain was getting too severe. So Hess decided to jump into action…
“I just put on another gown to cover up my backside and put on some boots over my shoes, to keep from getting any fluid and all that stuff on me, and went down to her room,” Hess told WKYT.
“I had actually taken a call the day before, so I thought really that I was working up to the last minute. But this was literally ’til the last second.”
“I said you know, I’m not on call, I’m here in a gown, but I think we ought to have the baby.”
Hess successfully delivered the child, with the on-call doctor arriving shortly afterwards to take over. Hours later, Hess gave birth to her own daughter. Johnson was unsurprisingly shocked to learn that Hess delivered the baby while in hospital to give birth to her own.
“She was definitely in doctor mode,” Johnson told NBC. “My husband noticed something was going on because she had on a hospital gown, but I didn’t notice that because I was on the delivery table. I was in my own world there.”
“Pretty amazing what she did. I feel very lucky she was there and the type of person she is and step up to do what she did. We really appreciate her.”
How do moms do it?