Soldier Serving in Iraq Hears Birth of Firstborn

Obstetrics Technician Gail Harrison had transferred phone calls from the nurses station to patient rooms at SJRMC/South Bend’s Family Birthplace countless times.

“It’s so routine I could do it in my sleep,” Harrison said. “But this time I was so nervous. I just had my fingers crossed that this transfer would go through.”

That’s because she typically doesn't take calls from Iraq from a United States Soldier anxious to find out the status of his soon to be growing family. But a seamless transfer on the part of Harrison enabled Robert Wesley Garrett to hear everything he longed to know, getting a detailed account as his daughter entered the world while he was on the other side of it, thousands of miles away.

Around 8 am on February 12, Army Specialist Garrett began calling South Bend every ten minutes, as he knew his wife, Rita, could go into labor at any moment.

“The nurses kept coming in telling me there was a message on the phone from Iraq . . . your husband is on the phone from Iraq,” explained Rita. “As we were getting closer, I finally had to tell my Mom to tell him I can't talk – I’m trying to push this baby through.”

But the Family Birthplace Staff had an idea.

When Specialist Garrett called just after 10 am, Harrison made the all-important transfer into the labor room, where SJRMC’s Pam Dziadosz, RN, took the handoff.

“Your first baby is such a wonderful experience and to be overseas and miss that experience is heartbreaking,” Dziadosz said.

So Dziadosz laid the phone on the bed and described everything as it was happening.

“It was like she was doing a ballgame,” Rita laughed. “It’s crowning . . .okay, I can see the head . . .it’s a girl!”

Dziadosz even held the phone up to let Specialist Garrett here the baby’s heartbeat and to let him hear his daughter, 6 pound 15 ounce Savannah, cry for the first time.

In an interview over the phone, an emotional Specialist Garrett explained from Iraq, “When I first heard her cry, it really hit home to me that I had a daughter. It’s the greatest, it really is the greatest.”

For all involved at the Family Birthplace, this not-so-typical delivery was one they will cherish forever.

“I am always so grateful to help and take care of fellow service members and their families,” said Dr. Kelly McGuire of Saint Joseph OB/GYN Specialists, who served in the United States Marine Corps. “It was great that Specialist Garrett could be part of the delivery.”