{"id":273925,"date":"2022-08-13T11:11:17","date_gmt":"2022-08-13T16:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=273925"},"modified":"2022-08-11T16:58:39","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T21:58:39","slug":"ymca-lifeguard-labor-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/ymca-lifeguard-labor-pool\/","title":{"rendered":"YMCA lifeguard jumps into action when mom goes into labor at the pool"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Natalie Lucas, a teen from Longmont, Colorado, had an unusual situation during her routine lifeguarding shift at the YMCA on July 24 when she helped a mom deliver a baby.<\/p>\n

Tessa Rider and Matthew Jones arrived at the pool because Rider, who was nine months<\/a> pregnant, found that the water helped to alleviate her pregnancy discomfort. However, shortly after they arrived, she realized she was in labor.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe looks at me and says, \u2018We need to go,\u2019\u201d Jones told TODAY Parents<\/a>. \u201cTessa has barely made it out of the pool, she\u2019s like two, three steps from the rail. She\u2019s on all fours and she\u2019s visibly in pain and also in the middle of the contraction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucas noticed the couple and approached to see if they needed help.\u00a0\u201cI was like, \u2018This doesn\u2019t look great. Let me go over to see what\u2019s happening,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI walk on over to them and they say, \u2018We\u2019re having the baby.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucas immediately had someone call 911, and then offered assistance to Rider \u2014 grabbing towels and a first aid kit \u2014 as little baby Tobin (“Toby”) was born right at the YMCA pool.<\/p>\n

“I was helping support her head, and the husband was helping guide the baby out. I stayed calm, and I didn’t freak out, because that’s what you need to do in this job,” Lucas told the\u00a0Washington Post<\/a>. “You can’t really hesitate or wait for someone else to come. You’re the lifeguard; you’re the lifesaver.”<\/p>\n

READ: Supermom goes into labor during bar exam, gives birth, and completes exam<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n