Boise, Idaho News, Weather and Traffic - KTRV Fox 12 - Baby Born in Birthing Center Parking Lot
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Meridian, Idaho -- It's supposed to be one of the happiest times in a mother's life -- the day her child is born. But for one Meridian woman, it's also an experience she'll never forget. That's because she delivered her baby in a parking lot.
"Oh my God, it was horrifying. It was the scariest thing I've ever done in my life," said Monica Walters-Wolfe, a Meridian mother.
What was supposed to be one of the most beautiful experiences in her life turned into a nightmare. Walters-Wolfe had planned to deliver her baby at a midwife birthing center in Meridian Tuesday morning, just after midnight.
But when Wolfe got to The Baby Place, no one was there, so she gave birth to her baby alone in the middle of the driveway. She stripped off her clothes, using her coat to keep the baby warm. She walked to a nearby house to call 911 for help.
Luckily, the new mother did everything right. She and the baby are now at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. As nurses monitor her son in the neo-natal intensive care unit, Wolfe is coming to grips with the miscommunication that happened less than 48 hours ago.
Apparently, when she called her midwife, the midwife had mistakenly identified her as a different expectant mother who was coming from Twin Falls. And not Wolfe, who lives only minutes away from the birthing center.
"I think that this was a tragic mistake. I feel as a human being that this isn't the way anyone should have a baby," said Coleen Goodwin, midwife who owns The Baby Place.
In her nearly 25 years of experience and 700 deliveries, Goodwin says nothing like this has ever happened. But to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else, Wolfe's mom wants to put the midwife out of business.
"I'm telling you I'm on a campaign to do it. That is my daughter and my grandson that almost died," said Kim Alberson, Wolfe's mom.
But Wolfe doesn't want to take such extreme measures, she just encourages mothers-to-be seeking alternative care providers to research them carefully.
Right now, there are no laws in Idaho regulating midwives. But Wolfe's mother is hoping to change that by telling her story to state legislators.
As for the new mother and her son, they're expected to go home Thursday.
