Parents of infant meet Oakland 911 dispatcher who talked them through emergency home delivery

By Carlos E. Castañeda

An Oakland Fire Department dispatcher was honored on Friday in a ceremony where she met the parents of a baby she calmly helped deliver over the phone when the mother unexpectedly went into labor.

On Feb. 12 at about 11:45 a.m., dispatcher Monica Rios responded to a 911 call from Martin Diller after his wife, Ricki Dorman, went into sudden active labor, the Fire Department said. Over the next few minutes, Rios calmly coached Martin through the safe delivery of their son, Jack, and the placenta, as firefighters responded about 10 minutes later to take them to the hospital, the department said.

Both the baby and mother were doing well after the delivery and the parents later reached out to the department to thank Rios personally and request an opportunity to meet her. On Friday, the family was present when the department presented Rios with a Stork Pin, recognizing her role in helping safely deliver the baby before firefighters. 

Diller said his wife was 39 weeks along when she began to feel contractions, and then her water broke.

“And then she said, ‘I can’t make it to the hospital,'” he said. “And so I called 911, and Monica was there to pick up our call, and five minutes later, this guy came out, and I caught him with the guidance, with the coaching of Monica, who was calm, collected, professional. I was a mess.”

Dorman said a home delivery was never in the plans, but she commended the Fire Department for a smooth operation that was over before they knew it.

“We want to thank Monica, and then to have the firemen come in minutes later, we all felt that everything was under control,” Dorman said. “There was no chance for us to get nervous, because it happened in five minutes, we had Monica, and then the firemen came in and made sure everything was alright.”  

“It meant a lot to us to, uh, come here and thank Monica in person,” said Diller as he fought back tears. “Because it’s a powerful thing to deliver a child, and for her to be there … over the phone to support us and our family. It means a lot to say thank you.”

Rios told reporters that she didn’t expect all the recognition for just doing her job, and noted that dispatchers receive special training for such emergencies.

“Mr. Diller said, ‘My wife is pregnant and it’s happening now,'” said Rios. “I just assisted him, walked him through the steps, made sure that mom and baby were okay … it really happened so fast.”

Rios said that while she has received a handful of calls over her six-year career from parents preparing for a birth, it was the first time she had to talk anyone through a delivery before firefighters arrived. Rios, who is six months pregnant herself, also said she thought about how she would feel if she were in their place.

“I also just thought, what if was me on the other line, how would I want the dispatcher to react?” said Rios. “Or, you know, what type of voice would I want to hear on the other side of the phone?” 

Friday’s meeting was the first in-person meeting between Rios and the family.