Barberton Fire EMS helps expectant mom deliver baby boy after she calls 911

• 'Why isn't he crying?': newborn gives mom a scare before crying out
• Barberton mom thought she was having Braxton-Hicks contractions
• Birth happened so fast, dad didn't get home from work to cut cord

The Barberton Fire Department wasn't expecting the first call of the morning on Thursday to be from an expectant mom.

But they delivered.

A baby boy, that is.

Capt. Duane Milford said Thursday afternoon that the department received the call at 7:54 a.m.

"It came in as a possible imminent birth," Milford said in a phone interview.

Soon-to-arrive Kai Shawn Winston was in a hurry, and a crew was at the home — on Robinson Avenue near the Summa Health Barberton Campus — three minutes later.

Milford and his team found out how fast "imminent" can be, with mom Mariah Foster waiting on the couch. Dad Joshua Winston was at work and on his way home.

"It took just a couple of pushes and she had the baby out," Milford said.

'It was pretty scary'

Foster, in a phone interview Saturday, said she was scheduled for a cesarean section next month, but Kai didn't want to wait.

"It was pretty scary," she said. "For an hour and a half I thought I was having Braxton-Hicks (contractions)."

When her water broke, she knew it was past time to call 911.

It happened so quickly, Dad didn't have time to make it home.

"Her husband just missed cutting the cord," Milford said. "… He smiled ear to ear when he came in."

The crew stayed long enough for the experienced dads on the team to walk the new father through his first diaper change.

Baby Kai born healthy, but a bit early

Foster said Kai arrived early, but healthy, at 4 pounds, 10 ounces. She'll be staying with him in the neonatal intensive care unit at Cleveland Clinic Akron General until he's ready to come home. Doctors tell her it won't be long.

Foster said she was initially concerned when Kai didn't immediately celebrate his arrival.

"I was freaking out: 'Why isn't he crying? Why isn't he crying?'" she said.

But it didn't take long.

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"When they got him suctioned out and cleaned up he started crying," she said.

Milford said he and his wife had their own quick-delivery experience with one of their two children.

"We got to the hospital (and) the doctor was coming from right next door," he said. "He just made it."

Milford said it's unusual for the department to deliver a baby, but not unheard of. About a year and a half ago, he said, a crew helped deliver a baby for a mom who intended to deliver at home.

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Foster and Kai were taken to Akron General, and the crew went on to more traditional business, Milford said.

"That was just a really nice way to start our day," he said.

'Definitely a memorable labor'

Foster complimented the EMS crew on helping her through the experience.

"They were really nice and very respectful of me," she said. "They kept talking to me to make sure I was OK."

She said it's a tale she'll be able to tell Kai when he's older.

"It was definitely a memorable labor," she said.

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Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him ataashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.