From a Plane to 7-Eleven, OC Sees Rash of Unlikely Births

Tuesday saw an inexplicable rash of unusual births around Southern California from a 7-Eleven baby to a a mile-high birth on a Southwest Airlines flight.

Orange County paramedics helped to deliver a baby in a Santa Ana convenience store Tuesday and, hours later, another team of firefighters helped bring twin girls into the world in Irvine.

“This is highly unusual,” said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority.

The OCFA has fielded about 120,000 calls for service this year, with paramedics or dispatchers helping deliver babies on seven occasions, compared to about six such calls in a typical year, he said.

Shortly before 4:30 a.m., a couple were racing from their Garden Grove home to Kaiser Hospital in Irvine, but they made a pitstop at a 7-Eleven at 302 E. 17th St.

Trisha Huynh, 32, was due to have labor induced, but that proved unnecessary when her baby boy was born at the convenience store.

Dispatcher Mishele Richards talked the baby’s father, Allan Su, through the delivery process. It was the 13th time in her 20-year career that she’s helped guide babies into the world, Concialdi said. Richards coached another parent through labor Nov. 3 in Irvine.

“Both times the (umbilical) cord was wrapped around the neck, and those are extremely difficult deliveries,” Concialdi said.

In each case, the babies came out blue from oxygen deprivation, Concialdi said. But paramedics were able to get the blood flowing and warmed up the infants, he said.

“The babies are all doing great,” Concialdi said.

Paramedics let Su cut his son’s umbilical cord. The 5-pound, 8-ounce boy, measuring 18 inches, was named Liam, Concialdi said.

About 11 a.m., another OCFA paramedic unit helped deliver twin girls in the 3900 block of Banyan Street in Irvine, Concialdi said.

“When they got on scene, the (first) baby was coming,” he said.

The 34-year-old mother was 34 weeks pregnant, Concialdi said.

“I don’t know why this is happening so much lately, but they were planning on delivering the babies at Hoag” Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, Concialdi said.

Another woman gave birth to her child in the airspace above Southern California Tuesday. A passenger, who was also an emergency room nurse assisted in the delivery. The plane, which was headed from san Francisco to Phoenix, was diverted to LAX, where it landed with one extra passenger.

• City News Service