'Baby stopped crying': Mom gave birth in parking lot. Security guard may have saved life.
DOVER — Rochela Gonzalez held her newborn son Tiago in her arms close to her chest in a loving embrace, as he wiggled his little fingers Friday in the maternity ward at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital.
Tiago is Gonzalez’s “miracle baby” after a fright Monday morning and the kindness of a stranger that may have saved her son’s life at the time of his birth.
Rochela Gonzalez, a Dover resident, was at home when she was struck with severe pain that lasted throughout the night Sunday. On Monday morning, Gonzalez’s husband Freddie was speeding through the Wentworth-Douglass Hospital parking lot, rushing with his laboring wife.
“I see the hospital and I'm very scared,” Rochela Gonzalez recalled thinking as they pulled into the parking lot. “I said ‘Hurry up! I feel the baby’s head!’ My husband was like ‘Oh my God, we’re almost there, wait two minutes more.’ But it’s impossible, and here he is.”
Little Tiago just couldn’t wait. Gonzalez gave birth to him in their SUV as they arrived at the hospital entrance.
Umbilical cord was around baby's neck
Security guard Andrew “Andy” Clark was alerted to the speeding vehicle, and he was the first to find Gonzalez holding her baby in the car. Realizing what happened, he rushed to her aid until more help could arrive.
As a father himself, Clark relaxed a bit when he heard the baby crying — a positive sign of health for newborns. With temperatures in the low 50s that morning, he worried the baby would get too cold and asked Tiago’s father, Freddie, to grab a blanket. Despite very limited training from a former EMT career, Clark said, his fatherly instincts clicked in when Tiago suddenly stopped crying.
“I went into Dad mode,” Clark said. “The baby had stopped crying. Something didn't feel right, it didn’t look right. As we went to wrap him in the blanket, that’s when we realized his umbilical cord was around his neck. I took the mom's hand and together we removed it from the child's neck. I helped mom boost him a little bit to support him and I tapped on the baby until he started crying again.”
At first, Rochela Gonzalez didn’t realize the umbilical cord was wrapped around her son’s neck. She said the experience has been hard to put into words, but she is immensely grateful to Clark and to God.
“I first thought ‘Oh my God, thank you God' because he cried. I think everything is good,” Gonzalez said with a crack in her voice. “Five seconds later, he stopped crying. I see what happened, with the cord around his face and neck. I prayed until he cried.”
Moments later, help arrived and the family was rushed upstairs into the maternity ward, where the family has spent the last four days. Both mom and baby have been given a report of good health.
“I’m still in shock,” Gonzalez said about the entire experience. "We are thankful."
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Security guard and mom reunite
The Gonzalezes' 5-year-old daughter, Tairette Amalia, stood at her brother’s side Friday, going on her tiptoes just enough to reach into the bassinet and hold her brother's tiny fingers. As a doting big sister, she squealed when he opened his eyes, excitedly speaking and singing to him in Spanish.
Rochela Gonzalez’s face lit up when she saw Clark visit Friday morning, instantly recognizing him as the man who helped her in one of her most fearful moments. It was a sweet reunion in the hospital room, where Gonzalez thanked Clark with tears welling up in her eyes.
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Clark stood beside the bassinet, talking to Tiago. He brought a gift for the family, a baby book which he and other staff signed to commemorate Tiago’s surprise entrance into the world.
“I'm excited to see his eyes are bright and clear, he’s a happy and beautiful baby boy,” Clark said to Gonzalez, looking down at Tiago. “I couldn’t be happier for your family.”
Clark said it was a day he will never forget.
“This is an amazing moment for this family and I'm very humbled to be a part of it,” Clark said, smiling. “I was just in the right place at the right time and able to provide a little extra help. I was just doing my job as a human and as an employee."
Clark didn't want to take credit. He praised Tiago's parents.
"Anyone would have done the same exact thing that I did," Clark said. "The real heroes here are mom and dad. Dad got her here. Mom delivered basically on her own. She's the true hero.”
This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Dover mom's 'miracle baby' saved by Wentworth-Douglass Hospital guard
