By Alejandro Alfonso
Inside Bay Area
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
All Rights Reserved
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — As firefighter Michael Blair held week-old Jaycer Jayagan in his arms Wednesday, the familiar setting was much more relaxed than it was the day Jaycer was born, and Blair’s crew worked to save the boy’s life.
The day before Jaycer came into the world, mother Joyce Jayagan, 42, went to her doctor and was told to expect the boy in 10 days, she said. Instead, her water broke early the next morning, May 8, and -- perhaps to hit the ground running -- baby exited mom’s womb feet first.
Her husband Ernesto, also 42, called 9-1-1. Alameda County Fire Engine 3450 of station 10 responded, and as the crew turned onto the 1400 block of Pacific Avenue they were told it was a breech birth.
“We don’t like having deliveries in the field -- we’d rather go to the hospital,” Capt. Scott Stewart said. “And a breech delivery is something that is very dangerous.”
In a hospital setting, a breech birth is always delivered by Caesarean section. The firefighters thought at first that they would have enough time to get the mother to the hospital.
“Our first goal was to do that,” Stewart said. “So we were telling her not to push, but you can’t stop the urge to push. And then when she had a contraction, his whole leg came out and we had to switch gears and prepare for an imminent delivery.”
The anxiety level went up then, Stewart said. Blair, who has been with the department for only two years and never delivered a baby in the field, would perform what his colleagues said is a “once-in-a-career call.”
“Things were pretty crazy for 10 or 15 minutes,” Blair said.
The next contraction brought the baby’s body out. His head, however, remained inside his mother. Blair made an air passage for the baby and maneuvered the umbilical cord from around the baby’s head. By the time Blair got the baby completely out, he wasn’t breathing.
The firefighters gave the baby cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The boy’s color came back and he began to move, Stewart said. But his breathing still was not where it should have been, and Blair cut the cord, wrapped him up, and they rushed to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, Stewart said.
Doctors at the hospital brought the baby’s pulse up and took him to the nursery for transfer to Children’s Hospital Oakland.
Charles Ruhlin, pediatric hospitalist at Eden, said the firefighters did an “outstanding job in the field in a very precarious situation.
The fire crew received updates on the boy’s health throughout the week, and Jaycer was brought home a week after his birth. On Wednesday, the fire crew came back to the apartment to visit with the new addition to the Jayagan family.
“Michael did good,” Mrs. Jayagan said as Blair held the baby between the new parents in their living room.
The firefighters credited the parents for doing most of the work. But the gravity of what they accomplished was not lost on them, either.
“When it really hit me was after I dropped the baby off at the hospital and had some down time to think about it,” Blair said. “And I thought, ‘Gosh, I can’t believe that just happened to us,’” he said, letting out a long breath.
Stewart asked the proud parents -- who have two other boys, ages 10 and 13 -- if there would be a fourth child in their future.
“No,” Mr. Jayagan said. “No No.4.”