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WENDOVER — Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cade Brenchley received an unusual assignment when he checked in with dispatchers at the start of his shift Tuesday.
A call had come in from a Wendover man, who was pulled over on the side of eastbound I-80 because his wife was going into labor. The woman was 36 weeks pregnant with twins.
"It was a little exciting," Brenchley said Wednesday. "I didn't know what was happening before I got there."
In 911 recordings, a dispatcher can be heard instructing the mother, who identifies herself as Maria, during the birth of the first child.
"I'm in labor, with twins, and I just can't take this pain anymore," the mother says.
In the recording, the couple is told to pull over to the side of the road to allow an amubulance to reach them. Shortly after pulling over, the first child is born and a dispatcher tells the mother to wipe off the baby's mouth and nose, tie the umbilical cord and wrap him in a towel.
When Brenchley arrived, he said the mother was in the front passenger seat holding the baby boy with the umbilical cord tied off with a shoelace.
Utah Highway Patrol troopers are given some instruction on delivering babies, but the training is not extensive.
"We have a little birthing kit," Brenchley said. "It has a bulb and clamps. I got a few things out to prepare and told her ‘If you feel like you want to push, go ahead and push'".
Brenchley grabbed his medical bag, and about 10 minutes later the second child, a girl, was delivered.
"She's a real trooper," Brenchley said of the mother. "She's the hero in this situation."
She's a real trooper. She's the hero in this situation.
–- Sgt. Cade Brenchley, UHP
The sergeant said he was anxious to deliver the baby to make sure there were no complications. After the girl was delivered, he checked her airway with his pinky finger, he said, and held her until it was clear she was breathing healthily.
"She let out a good, healthy cry," he said. "That's what I was a little nervous about. My training ends there."
Troopers are given some instruction on delivering babies, he said, but the training is not extensive. In his case, he had participated in the delivery of his children, including catching his two youngest.
The parents did not want to talk to the media, but Brenchley said the twins, who were flown to the hospital, are doing well. Miguel and Jocelyn are the parents' fourth and fifth children.
"As far as I know, they're doing great," he said.
The couple was trying to reach Salt Lake City and had made it approximately 24 miles outside of Wendover. Births can be tense for Wendover parents, Brenchley said, because the nearest hospitals are more than 100 miles away.
"If you go into labor, you've got a long drive."
