Young Siblings Help Deliver Mom's Baby in California Home
9- and 11-year-olds follow 911 instructions, tie off brother's umbilical cord.
March 18, 2010— -- After their pregnant mother suddenly went into labor, a pair of 9- and 11-year-old siblings helped successfully deliver a baby brother in their Fremont, Calif. home. As their 36-year-old mother Alana Sanders screamed in the background, Faith and Jabari Sanders calmly dialed 9-1-1, spoke to the dispatcher, and tied off the baby's umbilical cord.
"The baby's coming now," younger brother Jabari said on the call, released by the Alameda County Regional Communications Center.
In a scene that would be upsetting to almost any child, the siblings watched as their mother's blood ran across the bathroom floor, and she gave birth to the 9-lb., 4 oz. baby after one quick push. The father, Geoffrey, was away at work.
The pair quickly answered questions about the baby's breathing and their mother's condition, relaying commands from the 9-1-1 dispatcher to their mom word-for-word.
"Make sure you cover his head, not his face," Faith told her mother.
Following the dispatcher's words, Faith and Jabari found string in their home and tightly tied it around their brother's umbilical cord, still dangling from their mother.
Five minutes into the call, paramedics arrived at the Sanders home and took mother and baby Joseph to a nearby hospital. The baby received a clean bill of health, and the brother and sister got a heaping of praise from their dad, who called them "super heroes."
Before they hung up the phone, the dispatcher commended them for a job well done.
"You did a great job," she said.
"Thank you," Faith responded simply. "Bye."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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