Erin McNulty's Birth Story

Erin McNulty made a very memorable entrance into this world on July 12, 1995. After hours of labor, mother Debbie was exhausted but ready to get things over with. Kevin was sitting next to midwife ready to help deliver little Erin as he had her brother Sean. Family friend Jon Carney was holding Debbie’s hand serving as labor coach, and the pushing was under full steam. Erin’s head cleared the birth canal, and Kevin saw her little scalp suddenly turn from pink to purple to blue.

“Call high risk!” said the midwife.

In 20 seconds the room was filled with people and Kevin had been pushed aside. Erin’s shoulder was stuck, and her umbilical cord was looped over her shoulder so that the pressure of being stuck in the birth canal was pinching off the vital blood supply.

Nurses helped Jon prop up Debbie’s back so she could bear down. She had only seconds to push Erin the rest of the way out. Pushing the baby back in and performing an emergency C-section was not a great option, but they were fast running out of alternatives. Everyone was shouting at Debbie to push as Kevin sat helplessly by. Debbie was so focused on pushing that she really had no idea what was happening. She hadn’t heard the midwife say the words “high risk.”

Finally, the pushing worked and Erin was delivered. She was blue and limp. She made no sound or movement. The nurse quickly moved her to the warming table where another nurse was waiting with oxygen. The waved the open-ended oxygen tube under the baby’s nose, and rubbed her vigorously with towels to get her circulation flowing again.

“Breathe, baby, breath,” was all Kevin could say.

Finally, Erin began to cough and stir. And in a few seconds, she began to cry. It was the most wonderful sound in the world to Kevin. The whole thing had only taken about a minute, but it was the longest minute of his life.

Meanwhile, Debbie had delivered the afterbirth and could finally take a breath and take stock of her surroundings. Just about the time she began to worry, Shouldn’t I hear Erin crying by now? was about the time Erin finally did start crying. Debbie never really knew how close it had been until it was all well over.