Nicole Volff: City Hospital Shuttered Last Year So Mom Gives Birth In Driveway — What Happened To Baby?

Nicole Volff and her husband, James, who live in the small city of North Adams, Massachusetts, knew they were expecting a baby girl in June. What they never could have known is how little Savannah would come into the world. The 129-year-old North Adams Regional Hospital was closed more than a year ago — and with the nearest fully functioning hospital a half an hour away, the mom ended up delivering the baby in her own driveway.

“I woke up at 9:30 and called James to come home from work told him, ‘I think we might be having the baby today,’ ” Nicole told the local Time Warner Cable News channel. “Trying to get in the car the kids picked up and dropped off at the grandparents, then getting into the car, my water broke and the baby came out, seconds later.”

But that wasn’t even the end of the story.

With no medical personell there to help, the brand new baby, named Savannah, entered this world by cracking her head against the pavement of the driveway, causing a fracture in the tiny girl’s skull.

Fortunately, even though the local hospital is no longer in service thanks to money woes, leaving thousands of northwestern Massachusetts residents without easily accessible medical care, EMT services are still up and running.

James Volff called 911 and Amalio Jusino, of North Adams Ambulance, was on the way. When he arrived, little Savannah was having serious trouble breathing.

“There was no movement and there was some difficulty in the airway,” said Jusino.

“I asked the father to turn on the vehicle to create some heat to keep the baby warm. We opened the airway, we started cleaning the baby, giving the baby some oxygen, assisting with some respirations and then the baby started to pink up. She was very pale and blue when we first got there.”

About 10 minutes later, the new parents and rapidly improving baby were in an ambulance on their way to Berkshire Medical Center, the nearest working hospital, which lies more than 20 miles away from North Adams.

Luckily, Baby Savannah’s skull fracture was minor. Doctors at the hospital said that surgery on the newborn would not be required to repair the damage — the fracture would heal on its own.

The driveway birth took place about two months after a mom in Kentucky gave birth on a freeway during a traffic jam, because the president was in town and his motorcade was tying up traffic.

A group of local residents, the North County Cares Coalition, has been fighting to get the local North Adams hospital reopened, though some basic services were restored after the Berkshire Medical Center bought the North Adams hospital out of bankruptcy.

But for now, Nicole Volff, her husband, and Savannah are reportedly doing fine after their harrowing driveway delivery.

[Image: WNYTH Screen Grab]