MIAMI (WSVN) - MIAMI (WSVN) – As Hurricane Irma pummeled South Florida with blistering winds and rain, a couple dealt with a dilemma: conditions were too dangerous to drive to the hospital, and a woman was ready to give birth.
Most parents will say babies wait on nobody. David Knight and Tatyanna Watkins learned that lesson first-hand.
“Extremely nerve-wrecking,” said Knight, a new father. “I’m still like in shock because I never thought I’d be in a sitaution like this. I just thank God everything was all right and the birth was successful.”
At Jackson Memorial Hospital, Watkins’ delivery was the talk of the hospital. “We just have a story to tell her,” said Watkins about what she’ll tell her daughter when she grows up.
City of Miami Fire Rescue were not able to reach Knight and Watkins throughout the storm due to the conditions, so a paramedics dispatcher and OB/GYN doctor walked the new parents through the process.
With their help, Knight was able to safely deliver his and Watkins’ daughter, six-pound and seven-ounce Destiny Knight.
“I just know that she had to come out because it was not feeling normal,” said Watkins.
“When I got on the phone, the baby had already been delivered,” said OB/GYN Dr. Kendra Gillespie. “and the cord had been tied off with a shoelace, as instructed by the dispatcher. So what was left to do was cut the cord in the placenta.”
“It’s a good relief to have someone on the phone that’s trained in the field,” said Knight. “Without that, I don’t think I’d be able to do it, man.”
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