South Florida Mom Delivers Her Own Baby at Home During Hurricane Irma
UHealth/Jackson Doctor along with City of Miami emergency personnel coached mom through delivery.
Tatyanna Watkins, 23, began having contractions a minute apart after midnight on Sunday, September 10, in the midst of Hurricane Irma. However, she thought everything would be fine since she was not due until Monday, after the storm passed.
“I put the heating pad on to help with the pain, but it wasn’t working like I hoped,” Watkins said. “Around 5:30 a.m., my boyfriend, David Knight, and I started panicking – I couldn’t stop screaming.”
Watkins was quickly going into labor at her boyfriend’s residence in northwest Miami-Dade. She evacuated from her Homestead home, and originally planned to deliver at Jackson South Medical Center.
“City of Miami Fire Rescue couldn’t get to her because the hurricane’s winds were too strong,” said Desiree Farrell, the city’s emergency dispatch supervisor. “Instead, our team reached out to the closest hospital in proximity, and that is when I was able to get on a three-way call with University of Miami Health System/Jackson Memorial Hospital obstetrician/gynecologist Kendra Gillespie.”
Both Farrell and Dr. Gillespie walked the anxious couple through the delivery of their baby, and taught them how to tie off the placenta.
“I had to remain calm and not panic for myself and boyfriend, but I was very nervous,” Watkins recalls. “My boyfriend was traumatized, and we hope to never go through this again.”
Coming in at six pounds, 11 ounces, and 20 inches, Destiny Janine Knight was born.
“There were a flurry of emotions – concern about the delivery going without complication, excitement that parents were getting to have this moment, and laughter listening to Mr. Knight complete the delivery of the placenta in utter awe,” Dr. Gillespie said. “This was not something I had ever considered would actually materialize, but I went into medicine for this reason. I’ve been trained well to help.”
Once it was safe for City of Miami Fire Rescue to transport mom and the baby, they were brought to The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial.
“All the medical staff kept calling me the Irma superstar,” a laughing Watkins admits.
Baby Destiny is currently being monitored at Holtz Children’s Hospital’s pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (PCICU) at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center by her UHealth neonatal intensive care pediatrician Maria Peinado, MD.
“Babies are very susceptible to infections, so that is the first thing we checked for,” Dr. Peinado said. “She came in looking great, but then she started breathing fast – the oxygen in her blood started dropping a little bit. Blood test determined she did have an infection and we put her on antibiotics.”
Once Destiny finishes her antibiotics, the baby will be healthy enough to go home.
The 9-1-1 dispatcher surprised Watkins during a press conference on Wednesday, September 13. The new mom shared her journey and thanked her medical team, City of Miami firefighters, as well as the dispatcher who assisted her through this experience.
This is Watkins’ third child. Her five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter were with her parents during the hurricane.
UHealth OB/GYN Salih Yasin, MD, who was also present at the press conference, shared a few heartwarming thoughts.
“We are the safety net for the county, and this is why open communication with our local first responders, fire rescue, emergency facilities, and the hospitals is so important,” Dr. Yasin said. “This is an example of how caring people can really communicate even in the worst situations. We cannot control all factors, but this is a great story for us to learn from.”