Markeshia Ricks Photo
Molly Elicker meets Nikki Britton.
Justin and Natalie Elicker had planned for several scenarios for the delivery of their first child. Having a 911 dispatch supervisor talk Justin through the delivery was not on the list.
But that’s exactly what happened when baby Molly decided to throw her parents a bit of a curve ball on Dec. 11.
On Tuesday, Molly, along with her mom and dad — who run two New Haven not-for-profit institutions, the Institute Library and the New Haven Land Trust, respectively — took a field trip to the 911 call center at 1 Union Ave. There they met in person with dispatch supervisor Nikki Britton, who talked her parents through her delivery over the phone. They also got to thank Britton for her help.
“I’ve only talked people through a delivery a few times,” Britton said. “But [Elicker] was very calm. Most importantly he listened.”
“I might have sounded calm,” Justin said. “But I wasn’t calm.”
Nothing really went according to the books that Natalie said she read leading up to Molly’s arrival. When she started to feel some contractions that morning, she talked to a midwife who told her that since it was her first baby, things would likely progress slowly, which meant they had plenty of time to get to the hospital — or so they thought. Britton who is a mother of five, said she was in labor 36 hours with her first child.
“The contractions weren’t coming very regularly,” Natalie said. “Justin timed them and they didn’t seem that close together.”
In fact, Justin (who ran for mayor in 2013) was just starting to pack the bag for the hospital when things started moving quickly. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Natalie was in full labor and Justin realized he needed to call 911 because they weren’t going to make it to the hospital.
Britton shows Elickers the dispatcher book with instructions she used to guide them through Molly’s delivery.
When the initial dispatcher picked up at about 7:48 a.m. and learned that Elicker was going to need assistance with delivering a baby, she called in Britton.
Britton, a 16-year veteran with the communications department, said the dispatcher was new and a little nervous. So Britton agreed to handle the call.
“Can you see the head?” Britton asked when she got on the line. When Justin said yes, Britton walked him through the drill. She told him when to ask Natalie to push, wipe fluid from the baby’s mouth, remove the umbilical cord from around her neck and pat their newborn baby on the back to get her to cry.
“Afterwards, it occurred to me that this is why back in the day they always told you to get towels and hot water,” Britton said with a laugh.
“There was not time for the hot water,” Natalie said, joining in the laugh.
Justin said Molly’s birth was like nothing he’d ever seen. “In the movies the baby is just wailing away,” he said. “But she was kind of quiet.”
The Elickers said they were very thankful to have Britton on the line coaching them. They never anticipated the need to call 911 for assistance, especially with delivering their baby.
Natalie said she was especially impressed with the professionalism of everyone involved, from Britton working dispatch to the ambulance crew that arrived to take her to the hospital.
“When I realized the head was coming out I thought, ‘Well I guess this is it,’” she recalled. “I was scared because we hadn’t planned for this situation and thankful that Justin was there. Once Justin called 911, Nikki kept us both calm and focused each step of the way.”
Justin, who is a former alder and mayoral candidate, said when you’re creating budgets and contracts you don’t always think about all the individual jobs that go into those negotiations. But “it becomes real personal when you are the one calling” for help.
Britton said she loves her job. She reminds the people she supervises that everyone calling, no matter how nice or mean they are — and sometimes they are really mean — is experiencing a potentially traumatic event. She said the Elickers were nice, calm and attentive. But that’s not always the case.
“I tell them it’s normal for [callers] to be hyper and agitated,” she said. “If they yell and curse at you, don’t take it personal. You have to stay calm.”
Elicker joked that he might play the 911 call at Molly’s wedding. The Elickers said they plan to go to the hospital early for their next child’s birth — or just call Britton.
“We have you on speed dial now,” he said.
“Just call me,” Britton responded, “if you ever need me.”
God bless the Elicker family , and congratulations.
Mrs Elicker looks like a kid herself.
I think that, if the presence of the father at births had been the custom of the times many years ago, our son would have been an only child, and not have later had three sisters.
God bless the women who have the guts to absorb that experience several times. I am not too sure about fathers who can observe loved ones in pain repeatedly..
Don't think I would be that good about it.