Instructor Assists Huntington Park Student Who Went into Labor on Campus
What started as a normal day on October 1 quickly turned into a dramatic moment that Janet Osorio, and her family and classmates, won’t soon forget.
Janet, a Medical Assistant student at UEI College in Huntington Park, is only a few months away from graduating when she experienced a life-changing event—delivering her baby unexpectedly while at the Huntington Park campus. Thankfully, an attentive instructor came to her aide.
Janet thought she might be pregnant, but she had no idea just how far along the pregnancy was. Her pregnancy was rare. Known as a Cryptic Pregnancy, it occurs when the typical symptoms of pregnancy are so mild that the woman does not realize she’s pregnant until near labor. Janet had recently started to suspect that she might be pregnant and had an exam scheduled for the following week. While typical labor and childbirth can last for several hours and be very painful, Cryptic Pregnancies can also include very mild labor.
“I had just gone to the clinic that Monday and was supposed to get my first ultrasound the next week,” Janet said. “I had no idea I was that far along.”
She recalls meeting up with her sister Jennifer, who’s also a student at UEI in the Criminal Justice program, when she got to the UEI campus that day. As they were walking into campus, Janet felt moisture running down her legs and a sharp pain in her hips. She knows now, that is when her water broke. Jennifer, realizing something was wrong, helped her sister to the restroom. As they reached the bathroom, the situation took an unexpected turn. “I cleaned myself up and saw a little bit of blood. I was like, ‘What the hell?’ Then, all of a sudden, I felt the baby coming,” Janet said.
“I screamed,” Janet remembers. “I was screaming. My sister was screaming, and Ms. Diaz was walking past the restroom. She came inside and asked, ‘Is everything ok?’”
Yvonne Diaz, a Medical Assistant and Medical Office Specialist instructor at UEI, jumped into action. “I took off my lab coat off and used it like a blanket as she gave birth to the baby,” she said. “When he came out, he wasn’t crying yet so I knew there was a problem. It was the umbilical cord.”
“She saw the umbilical cord wrapped around the baby’s neck, and she told me to take it off slowly while she held him,” Janet explained. “If Ms. Diaz hadn’t been there, I think my baby could have choked.”
“Ms. Diaz told me, ‘It’s a boy!’ and we started to cry.” While Ms. Diaz assisted Janet, her sister Jennifer ran to get help. Staff called 911. Janet and her newborn were rushed to the hospital.
Baby Noah, born six weeks premature, weighed only 4 pounds, 8 ounces at birth. He spent over a month in the NICU in the hospital but is now healthy and doing well. Janet quickly resumed her classes, determined to finish her education while balancing newfound motherhood. “I was joining Zoom classes from the hospital,” she said. “I am so thankful for the instructors working with me to make up labs.”
With the support of her family and friends, Janet intends to finish the MA program and has her sights set on going into pediatrics when she graduates.
“I’m doing everything to build a better future – especially now that Noah is here,” she said.
Looking back on the experience, Janet is thankful for the support of her family, and especially Ms. Diaz. “I’m so grateful for her being there,” Janet said. “If she wasn’t there, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“I am passionate about my students. I never thought I would have to help deliver a baby on campus,” Ms. Diaz said. “I am thankful that Janet and Noah are doing well. It was quite the miracle to welcome him into the world like that.”
