“I have never in 23 years ran across this!”
That's how assistant Bristow, Oklahoma police chief Kendra Raney described what happened in the ladies restroom of Walmart on Tuesday.
"A Walmart employee requesting an ambulance for a lady that was inside the women's bathroom either having a miscarriage, or having a baby," Raney said.
That 911 call triggered emergency responses from multiple agencies, including police, fire and the Creek County Ambulance service. It sent paramedics racing to help.
Raney described what first responders found, stating, "I understand the Walmart employees performed lifesaving measures and when the ambulance got there, they transported them both to a Tulsa Hospital."
The Bristow Fire Department report shows it paramedics worked on the baby girl for 17 minutes. They gave her oxygen and cleared her airways. Finally, she took breaths on her own and made a weak cry.
Why was the baby was born in the Walmart restroom?
"Mom stated that she started having contractions about 2:30 in the morning that morning and she didn't think that they warranted a visit to the hospital," Raney explains. "She got up later, got her kids off to school and felt that she needed to use the restroom, so she stopped at the Walmart which the middle school's right across from the Walmart."
Raney says the mother felt some pressure and then the baby came out. We asked how the mother and baby girl are doing now. Then she added, "Both are gonna make it."
Raney said, the incident is still under investigation. Bristow police are not releasing the mother's name, or which hospital the mother and baby were taken to in Tulsa. She expects the investigation to be wrapped up early next week.
This article was originally written by Cathy Tatom for KJRH.
