16-year-old delivers baby cousin after learning about labour in school
16-year-old Morlie Hayes has just learned about childbirth in Health class in high school, but she wasn't expecting to use it just weeks later.
The teen from Utah was at home alone on a Saturday afternoon when her doorbell rang. It was her seven year old cousin and she was in tears.
"My mum's outside. She's going to have her baby!" the child said. Without a second thought, Morlie jumped into action.
Her aunt, Laura Creager, was not due until the 19th of May, but her water had broken two and a half weeks early while running errands.
Staying calm the teenager dialled 911 and helped her aunt into the house. Listening to the dispatcher, she gathered towels, pillows and made sure her aunt was comfortable.
After one particularly strong contraction, baby Kayla arrived.
Remembering what she learned in class, Morlie made sure the umbilical cord wasn't tangled and the baby's colouring was good.
"It was an amazing experience," Morlie told local media.
As for Laura, she's extremely grateful that she made it Morlie's house.
“We could have been in a dirty car with soccer gear and mud from the Scouts and everything else,” she said. “We might not have been able to get a hold of an ambulance. Here, we had everything we needed and we weren't stranded in the canyon alone.”
Soon after paramedics arrived to cut the chord, Morlie text the baby's father, who was in disbelief.
Morlie even signed the birth certificate and Laura gave baby Kayla the middle name of Faith, as " all of us had so much faith and work to get through this."
Definitely a mid-wife in training!