Molalla Pioneer

Not everything fits in the newspaper.


The Molalla Pioneer blog has moved!

The Molalla Pioneer blog has moved to a new location.
See http://molallapioneer.wordpress.com for breaking news and updates.

Beavercreek couple brings home healthy baby after kitchen delivery

By Abby Sewell
Molalla Pioneer

Karen and Brian Hanners returned from the hospital to their Beavercreek home today, bearing a healthy baby son who was delivered by paramedics in the couple's kitchen on Tuesday morning.

The Hanners were both at home at about 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday when little Elijah Hanners made an unexpected arrival, four weeks before his due date.

Karen said her husband, a former police officer, used to joke that he was trained to perform a home delivery if necessary.

"I can tell you I've always been really adamant about not having a home birth," Karen said.

But her husband's joke fulfilled itself on Tuesday. Karen said she was sitting on the couch when her water broke and immediately knew she would not have time to get to the hospital.

"This is my fourth baby, and with the last one, as soon as the water broke, the baby just came," she said. "I was on the couch and I said, 'I am not having a baby on the new carpet.'"

She quickly relocated to the kitchen while paramedics were en route from the Clackamas County Fire District #1 station, just a few doors down from the Hanner's home on Beavercreek Road.

Within minutes, with the assistance of two CCFD #1 paramedics and one firefighter, Elijah was born, weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and measuring 20 inches.

Mother and child were then transported to Willamette Falls Birth Place for postnatal care. They had a reunion with the firefighters on Tuesday afternoon at the hospital to thank them for their help.

CCFD #1 spokesperson Lt. John Hopkins said that both of the paramedics on scene had performed home deliveries before, but not in about fifteen years. Elijah's delivery, however, went without a hitch.

"He's a strong, happy boy," Karen said.



Web This Blog




© 2006 Molalla Pioneer