Health

Dad helped deliver baby daughter using iPhone charger after wife began giving birth in car


Quick-thinking real estate agent Tony Saab used an iPhone cable to deliver baby daughter Hazel after his wife Leanne went into labor while he was driving her to the hospital (Pictures: Tony Saab/Metro.co.uk)

A quick-thinking new dad helped to deliver his baby daughter using an iPhone charger cable after his wife gave birth in a hotel parking lot.

Real estate agent Tony Saab, 34, sprang into action to play midwife when his wife, Leanne, 40, suddenly went into labor on the way to the hospital in Denver, Colorado, on March 9. But in the few minutes it took for Tony to pull over off the highway, Leanne had already given birth right next to him in the passenger seat.

He dialed 911 for help as soon as he pulled his truck to a standstill and said he was told by the operator to find something – like a piece of string – to use to tie off the umbilical cord. But the only thing he could find without using the dirty laces from his old boots was an iPhone lighting cable laying around in his glove box.

Hazel, the couple’s second child, was born healthy despite her unorthodox arrival into the world, with Tony thrilled to have been able to help deliver his youngest daughter safely.

The blood-stained iPhone charging cable in a bio hazard bag. (Picture: Tony Saab/Metro.co.uk)

He said: ‘We were three or four miles away from the hospital and I looked out of the corner of my eye and I saw her head and that’s when I knew the baby was coming.

‘I was doing my best to concentrate on driving but when I looked over all I could see was this head of hair.

‘I pulled over and dialed 911 and the guy said that if the cord has stopped pulsing then we need to tie it off with something, like a shoelace.

‘I looked at my boots and couldn’t face using a dirty shoestring, it didn’t seem right.

‘But I looked inside the truck and found an iPhone charger and thought that will have to do.

Tony has said the couple plan to keep the blood-stained iPhone cable as a memento of that adrenaline filled night three weeks ago – and added he might even surprise Hazel with it on her wedding day.

He added: ‘It was pretty frightening because I was just worried about Hazel and was hoping she would be ok. The sound of Hazel crying was one of the best sounds I’ve ever heard in my life.

Tony Saab holding his newborn daughter, Hazel, at the Swedish Medical Centre in Denver. (Picture: Tony Saab/Metro.co.uk)

‘We were both running on pure adrenaline.’

It is common practice during the delivery of a baby to tie of the umbilical cord once it has stopped pulsing meaning it has stopped delivering blood to the baby. Tony said it had by the point – giving him the all clear to tie it off.

Tony also told of his shock at how quickly Leanne delivered Hazel – with the infant arriving less than half an hour after they set off for hospital at 9:15pm, after Leanne’s contractions began to grow longer and more frequent.

Leanne Saab, holding Hazel shortly after giving birth. (Picture: Tony Saab/Metro.co.uk)

Hazel was born at 9.44pm weighing 7lb 5.5oz and an ambulance was sent to take Leanne and Hazel to the nearby Swedish Medical Centre for monitoring.

The couple spent two nights in hospital before being allowed home and settle down as a family in coronavirus lockdown as a family of four with their eldest daughter, two-year-old Ruby.

Tony, who has been married to teacher Leanne for three years, said he is ‘proud’ of his wife for staying calm enough to deliver Hazel on her own in the passenger seat of a truck.

He said: ‘I am so proud of her, she did an amazing job.

‘She is such an incredible woman and I have never met someone who is as strong as her.

‘Ruby is especially happy to have us around at home all the time.

‘It feels perfect and we are super happy. I am just so happy both my girls were okay and things worked out the way they did.

Tony, Leanne, Ruby and Hazel Saab at their family home in Denver. (Picture: Tony Saab/Metro.co.uk)

‘My dad, Phil, passed away in the passenger seat of a car just of natural causes and my sister said to me it was almost like fate that Hazel was born in the truck after what happened to dad.’

The couple left the hospital on March 11 not only with their newborn baby girl, but also with the bloody iPhone charging cable that was used to ensure Hazel’s birth was a healthy as possible.

It’s currently being kept in a bio hazard bag and is stashed away in Tony’s personal belongings.

He said he’s not too sure what to do with it just yet but know for sure that he wants to keep it for good – as a reminder to the whole family of the ordeal.

Hazel Saab, who is now three weeks old. (Picture: Tony Saab/Metro.co.uk)

But one idea Tony does have is to keep the whole experience a secret from Hazel right up to her wedding day, when he may plan on using it as a prop for the famed father-of-the-bride speech.

He said: ‘We are definitely going to keep it, we’re not grossed out about it.

‘It’s a running joke within the family already.

‘It’s a good thing to keep as a memento and a memory of what we went through together.

‘Who knows, I might even break it out at Hazel’s wedding.’





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