By Stephen Baxter, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Original publication date: March 15, 2011

Santa Cruz, Calif. — Edgar Sandoval was frantic. His wife, Mirtha Padilla, was going into labor with their second child at their home on Cirvelo Street in Watsonville — but there wasn’t enough time to get to Sutter Hospital in Santa Cruz where she was due to deliver.

Sandoval called 911 and hung up, and dispatcher Abby Hernandez called back. Hernandez didn’t know it at the time, but she would talk the couple through the childbirth before paramedics or other authorities could arrive. On top of that, Hernandez would later find out that the woman in labor had been best friends with her sister, Judy Hernandez Guzman, when they were children.

“My sister couldn’t believe it,” Hernandez said. “She said, ‘What are the odds that you would take the call, help her deliver the baby, and then to find out you knew her when you were a kid in Watsonville?'”

It was about 11 p.m. on March 8 when Hernandez started the call.

She had been trained to guide a baby delivery, and the first thing she had to do was convince the couple not to drive to the hospital. Padilla was due on March 14, but her water had broken and her contractions were constant.

Authorities were on their way, and Hernandez told Padilla to lie down for the delivery. Hernandez hadn’t helped deliver a baby in her eight-year career, but she urged the couple not to try to prevent the birth. She coached Sandoval through it.

“You’re doing great, hon. Remember, the baby will be slippery, so don’t drop it,” she told them.

Seconds later, Sandoval said he could see the baby’s head. Suddenly, Sandoval said, “I’ve got the baby, I’ve got the baby.”

Sandoval said later, “He was very slippery, so I brought him close to my chest so he would be right there and not slip.”

Watsonville police officer Corey Johnston arrived at the house in time to see Sandoval get nervous again. Sandoval feared the baby wasn’t breathing because he stopped crying. Johnston rubbed the baby’s chest and reassured everyone that the baby was breathing.

Hernandez told the couple to find a string or shoelace to cut the umbilical cord, but all Sandoval could find was dental floss – so he used that. It worked. Nurses later said they had never seen it done before with floss.

The boy was named Diego Angel Sandoval.

“I honestly thought the medics would be there to deliver the baby. But it happened so fast. The baby was there within minutes,” Hernandez said. “I just used the (emergency medical dispatch) protocols and kept working to get their attention so I could know exactly what was going on.

“I truly felt like a hero for the first time in my job. I felt a connection, a bond with the family even before I found out I knew Mirtha,” Hernandez said. “When I talked to her, I told her who I was, and what an honor and a privilege it was to help deliver their child.”

Posted with permission of the Santa Cruz Sentinel.