Thanks to the quick actions of a team of Ottawa paramedics, a local mother successfully delivered a healthy baby boy in a west-end home over the weekend. Paramedics say they got a call Saturday morning just after 9:30, for a woman in labour. “Based off what the mother told us, we made the judgment call to stick around and deliver on scene, versus transporting to the hospital,” explained paramedic Perry Ragavan. “It seemed like the birth was going be pretty, pretty quick. And then from there, we had a great second crew and superintendent that jumped on the call as well.” In all, there were five paramedics who assisted, Ragavan said, including one student paramedic who was only on her second shift. On Monday, CTV News Ottawa spoke with Ragavan, along with Alex Hill and Dalton Diceman, who were all on scene. Officials say in cases like these, two ambulances are dispatched to a home, one for the mother and the other in case of complications. But Hill said, in this case, mom and baby were sent off to the hospital together. “This is my first home birth,” he said. “It felt good. This is why I chose this career, and I do this job. Just seeing the joy on the mother’s face and knowing that the baby was delivered safely and is okay.” Diceman said this is his second home birth. He now has two stork pins that the Ottawa Paramedic Service gives out to those who help deliver out-of-hospital babies. “This is my second blue stork pin. I’m still waiting on my first pink one,” he said. “An awesome experience. You get into this profession to help people, and what better way to help people than, you know, to help bring another life into this world?” Ragavan, who said this is his first out-of-hospital delivery, agrees. “It’s a good feeling,” he said. “I think a lot of people work this job to kind of help out the community. And these sort of calls are definitely a highlight of your career, for sure.”
