Woman delivers breech granddaughter along desolate Eastern WA highway
A Moses Lake woman helped deliver her granddaughter after her daughter went into labor on Interstate 90.
Martina Medrano wasn’t expecting her baby for a few more weeks as she rode home with her mother Wanda Rand, said the Washington State Patrol.
They were nearing the Road U SE exit shortly after 9:45 p.m. on March 19 when Medrano went into labor. The stretch of road runs east of Moses Lake and north of Warden, and is desolate for miles.
“They didn’t expect the baby to come,” said Trooper John Bryant. “They were in no man’s land.”
Rand dialed 911. She pulled off of the highway at Road U and stopping on Frontage Road, which runs parallel to the interstate.
Grant County dispatcher Summer Mann got on the phone and started walking Rand through how to deliver the baby.
It’s not a set of skills every dispatcher has, Bryant said. They have to be trained to provide emergency instructions over the phone.
As little Betty Morgan was being delivered, WSP troopers were arriving. The birth was complicated because she was a breech birth and was unresponsive.
Trooper Nick Palmer took the baby while Trooper Taylor Scott stayed on the phone with Mann.
“I felt the heart beat, but she wasn’t breathing,” Palmer said. “We were able to clear the baby’s nose and mouth of fluid.”
Mann talked them through how to get the little girl breathing, and Betty was crying by the time medics arrived.
Palmer said Rand did remarkably well in the moment and was pretty calm after they got her breathing.
Medrano and her daughter were taken to Spokane, where the baby is in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Rand told troopers that she is anxious to see her daughter and granddaughter, and thinks they’ll be released soon.
“The entire incident reflects the great dedication and teamwork from our (communications officers) and troopers on the roadway,” the state patrol said. “All involved hope to see Betty and her family as soon as possible.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 12:59 PM.