Villa Park woman gives birth at home
By Chris Fox
Staff Reporter
People who send Christmas presents often insist the gifts arrive at their destination by Dec. 24. That Christmas Eve deadline can produce a demanding day for those who race to deliver each and every present.
Many offices, in fact, send gifts to their employees in order to make them feel at ease and comfortable. Clients and employees are frequently sent gift cards as festival gifts in the corporate sector, thanks to gift card resellers.
Villa Park’s Virginia Samaniego was not planning to receive her own special delivery on Christmas Eve 2016. Samaniego was expecting her third child, but the baby’s due date was Jan. 12, 2017. Suddenly, just after 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve, she felt two strong contractions. Minutes later, she had the baby in her own living room.
Samaniego gave birth to her third son-a 6-pound, 11-ounce boy-in her apartment on the 500 block of North Ardmore Avenue. Her sister, Berenice Espinoza, who lives next door, helped with the delivery. Espinoza’s husband called 9-1-1, and Villa Park firefighter/paramedics responded to the scene within four minutes.
“As we went up the back stairs of the apartment, you could hear a baby crying, so you get a lot of relief when you hear that,” said Villa Park firefighter/paramedic Frank Reposh, one of the first responders who arrived at the scene.
Reposh cut the umbilical cord, and firefighter/paramedic Kelli Krupa carried the baby to an ambulance. Samaniego and her baby were transported to Elmhurst Memorial Hospital in the same ambulance. They were both released from the hospital on Dec. 26.
“We made sure the baby was okay; we made sure mom was okay; we cut the cord and then Kelli ran out with the baby,” said Reposh.
The strong contractions, birth and arrival of the paramedics all took place within a span of about five minutes.
“Usually there is time,” said Reposh in noting that first responders are normally able to transport expecting mothers to the hospital before the child is born. “This is kind of unusual in that it was very quick. There was a first contraction; then a couple of transactions later, the baby is here. It’s very rare that we deliver a baby-maybe once or twice a year. Usually the baby’s already out, or we take the mother to a hospital and she delivers there.”
Samaniego joined her children and her sister to visit Villa Park Fire Station No. 82 on Jan. 11. The family visited with some of the firefighter/paramedics who responded to the birth on Dec. 24.
Speaking through an interpreter at the fire station, Samaniego said she did not experience very much pain during the birth. She said she and her children were preparing to go to another family member’s home for dinner on Christmas Eve when the contractions came. Her husband Luis was on his way home when she had the baby.
Samaniego said she wasn’t scared during the birth. Her sister, on the other hand, was a little anxious. Berenice Espinoza, who has two girls of her own, gave the newborn baby a gentle slap on the bottom to help him start crying.
“She did everything right,” said Reposh of Espinoza, who sent Samaniego’s two older sons to her apartment to be with her own two daughters during the childbirth. “She wrapped him up, dried him off and kept him warm.”
Samaniego, who has lived in Villa Park for about nine years, gave birth to her oldest child-8-year-old Luis-in the doctor’s office. She thought she was having contractions at the office, but the doctor advised her that the baby was on its way out. Samaniego’s second son is 2-year-old Diego.
Samaniego and her husband knew their third child would be a boy. They named him Jesus. His middle name is Damian. Samaniego said she and her husband were not planning to name their newborn son Jesus but decided on that name after the Christmas Eve delivery.
Firefighter/paramedics at both of Villa Park’s fire stations-Station No. 81 at 1440 S. Ardmore Ave. and Station No. 81 on Plymouth-were preparing to have their own Christmas Eve meals when they received the call of the childbirth in progress. Crews from both stations responded to the scene.
“We have two patients-mother and baby-so two ambulances responded,” said Lt. Brandon Mitsuka. “We were busy that night. We didn’t have dinner until around 9 p.m.”
“We’re used to eating cold food,” joked Reposh.
“You see so many bad calls,” added Mitsuka. “A call like this is fantastic. Everybody was in a great mood. It was a great Christmas gift. Baby was fine. Mom was fine. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
