Time does not stop when a mother is pregnant and has other little ones to take care of. One Texas mom knows this firsthand. She was called to come pick up her sick child and ended up going into labor at Kleberg Elementary School in Dallas.
Thankfully for Loren Carcamo, a teacher on staff was also a former doctor. Maria Perez knew exactly what to do in this situation, especially when it became clear there was not enough time to get to the hospital. Maria delivered Loren’s baby like a champ.
It was school nurse Tylar Krause who made the initial call to Loren about her sick daughter. Loren came to the school not expecting to go into labor. When this happened, Tylar felt unprepared and underqualified to help, but she knew exactly who to call.
“I’ve never delivered a baby. I watched one birth during nursing school. So I was like, ‘OK, let me just try to remember what they did.’ I was panicking,” Tylar told Today.
Tylar’s office asked teacher Maria Perez for help. Maria had experience as an OB-GYN resident in Venezuela, where she had delivered hundreds of babies. She was just the person for the job and was the person who realized this baby was coming fast.
Maria was quick to reassure Loren and explain her credentials. “I said ‘Don’t worry, I was a medical doctor in my country and I delivered a lot of babies,’” she said. This put Loren at ease.
Maria took charge of the situation and made it as stress-free as possible for Loren. “I feel like I was with a real friend, with my doctor. So, when she started talking to me, the scary part just went away,” Loren recalled.
Maria believes the delivery was a team effort. She was honored to be able to help Loren. “[Loren] let us guide her through the delivery process,” Maria explained.
After about a 10-minute labor, Loren welcomed a beautiful baby girl, whom she named Leire Madeleine. “I was smiling. I was happy. I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t believe it,” she recalled.
Maria believes everyone should experience the joy of childbirth in one way or another. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “When the baby comes and starts crying, you just feel that amazing energy.”
Tylar was just so thankful she was present and able to help. “What are the odds of having a baby at a school in the first place? But having a doctor there that’s done it? We’re lucky. Blessed, I would say,” she said.
