2 midwives, 3 doulas and no pulse: Fast-acting Mutual Aid crew help save Hempfield baby

Samantha Kindelberger was confident that the two midwives and three doulas she selected for her home birth would bring her new son into the world successfully.

She and her husband, Roy, would become parents to a second child to join their 2-year-old daughter, Ivah.

She did not expect to be on a helicopter, giving medical consent for doctors to treat her newborn on the same day as his Aug. 4 birth.

“As he was being birthed,” Samantha said, “my midwife saw there was no pulse.”

With the help of the birth team and a Mutual Aid Ambulance crew, Judah survived the ordeal with no health complications. The family thanked crew members Friday at the Greensburg station for their efforts.

Judah was born unable to breathe because of a placental abruption — a partial or complete separation of the placenta from the inner wall of the uterus, according to UPMC. Though uncommon, the condition is most likely to occur in the third trimester of pregnancy.

The Kindelbergers’ birth team jumped into action.

“Every single person played such a vital role,” Samantha said. “One person was giving manual breaths. One person was stimulating him. One person was calling the ambulance. Everyone had a different role to play.”

Mutual Aid was dispatched to the scene, arriving at the Kindelbergers’ Hempfield home five minutes later.

Crew members resuscitated Judah.

He went at least 15 minutes without oxygen, Roy said.

Within 16 minutes, the family was en route to Westmoreland Hospital — Roy and Judah in one ambulance, Samantha in another. Grandparents took care of Ivah.

“We run these scenarios at least once a year, usually about every six months, with our providers,” said paramedic supervisor Jonathan Jobe. “That way, in that stress, muscle memory takes over.

“Your hands just start doing what they’ve been trained to do, what they’ve been doing for however long you’ve been certified and working,” Jobe said. “It worked. It worked very well.”

Jobe responded to the scene with EMTs Anna Walker and Isaac Stebleton, advanced EMT Kristen Facemyer, paramedic Steve Zyvith and medical director Bill Jenkins.

Judah was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh by emergency medical helicopter.

He spent the first three days of his life in a cooling blanket to prevent brain damage. He was hooked up to an EEG, a device that records brain activity.

“That was three days we didn’t get to hold him,” Samantha said. “I hadn’t held him yet at that point or nursed him.”

Even so, Roy said his wife was strong through it all.

“She felt like God was able to give her some type of peace,” Roy said. “That’s what (God) kept reverberating in her heart — ‘I am making your son whole.’ ”

The Kindelbergers were encouraged by support from family and friends.

“We were praying. Our church was praying,” Samantha said. “Churches all over the world were praying for Judah.”

Doctors expressed concerns of broken collar bones and long-term damage to Judah’s liver, kidneys and heart.

But nine days later, the Kindelbergers returned home with a healthy baby with no medical complications.

“Now we get to share this awesome testimony about God,” Samantha said, “and what he’s done for our baby, for our family.”