Grandmother Drops Everything But Turkey Baster for Thanksgiving Day Delivery

November 27, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under: News

Paricia McCalop called 911 and dropped everything except her turkey baster when her daughter went into labor during the midst of Thanksgiving meal preparations.

Danizah Chauntel

“She kept running back and forth to the kitchen to get the turkey. I’m like, ‘What are you doing with the turkey? We got the baby,’” said Africa McCalop. Her daughter Danizah Chauntel was born at 8:23 a.m. yesterday morning. “She didn’t know what to do. She’s like, ‘I got to go get the turkey baster.’ I’m like ‘For what?’”

The new mother went to Boston Medical Center at 2:00 a.m., but was sent home. Her due date was not until December 11. A couple of hours later and she was in active labor at her mother’s house.

Boston Dispatcher/EMT Nelva Santiago answered the 911 call, “She told me that the baby was coming out. I asked, ‘Is the head showing?’ She told me, ‘Yeah.’”

The baby girl was born a few seconds later, but she did not make any sounds. Santiago instructed the grandmother to tap the baby’s feet. There was no response to the first attempt, but the baby cried out after the second tap.

When EMTs Chareese Allen and Garvey Cameron arrived on the scene, Africa and her newborn child were lying on the floor, but the baby was not moving.

Allen described both the mother and grandmother anxiously waiting, “Is she alive? Is she alive?” Allen picked the baby up, clamped the cord and cut it. “We started to suction the baby’s nose and mouth and started rubbing vigorously and she began to cry.”

McCalop said she was relieved when Allen and Cameron showed up to assist her. She has two other children, Kavon, age 13, and Khamonie, age 10.

“I felt more relieved that I knew someone was there without a turkey baster,” said McCalop. “She was born on turkey day with a turkey baster.”

She held her newborn baby for the first time during the ambulance ride to Boston Medical Center. During her visit at BMC, McCalop told Dispatcher Santiago how much she appreciated the help during her time of crisis.

The McCalop family will certainly have exciting turkey tales for many Thanksgivings to come!