Police release dramatic audio of dispatcher helping father deliver baby


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Editor's note: Audio recording uses descriptive language.OREM — A 911 dispatcher helped a father deliver a baby in a van Monday morning and the audio of the call was released Wednesday.

Mike Anderson was rushing to get his wife to the hospital to deliver their baby, but only made it to the Arctic Circle parking lot at 1600 S. State Street before his wife’s water broke, according to Orem police. Anderson called 911 to figure out what to do.

"Because I was induced with my two previous births, I didn't know how I naturally progressed," mother Kelly Anderson said. "So I didn't kow it was going to be that fast."

“I don’t know what to do,” Mike Anderson said to dispatcher Julie Merrell. “Should I keep driving to the hospital? I’m going to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.”

The dispatcher told Anderson it was his choice, but that she could help him deliver the baby if he didn’t think he could make it to the hospital. The dispatcher began giving Anderson step-by-step instructions for delivering his baby in the family’s red Toyota Sienna.

"If you would have seen it, you would have thought, 'This guys is an idiot," Mike Anderson said.

When asked if he had any towels in the car to wrap the baby in, he said, “Yes, we have a ShamWow.” The dispatcher then instructed Mike Anderson to get his shoelace out of his shoe to tie the baby’s umbilical cord with when he yelled, “I see the head. I see the head.”

“As the baby delivers, I want you to support the baby’s head and shoulders and hold the head and legs firmly,” the dispatcher told him. “The baby is going to be slippery so don’t drop it, OK?”

When he saw the ambulance lights approaching, he seemed relieved and asked, “Will they know more than I will?” The dispatcher laughed while reassuring him and told him that if the baby was ready to come out, to let it come out and not wait.

When the baby’s head began to crown, Mike Anderson reassured his wife and told her, “Kelly be strong. Be strong. Oh there it is! It’s coming. It’s coming. I’ve got it.”

The paramedics arrived on scene after the baby was born.

"We crossed lanes without killing anyone, made it to the parking lot and had that baby — that was crazy," Kelly Anderson said. "We have a beautiful baby boy and we all survived."

The Andersons said that they named their baby Benjamin Norman Anderson, he weighted 7 pounds 8 ounces and both mother and baby are home and healthy. Benjamin is their third child.

"Perfect, perfect outcome. Could not have hoped for better," Mike Anderson said.

Contributing: Andrew Adams

[listen to ‘Anderson Baby’ on Audioboo](https://audioboo.fm/boos/2428263-anderson-baby)

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