"Honestly, I haven't touched a patient since 2008," Holt told Army Times.
He certainly didn't think he'd be delivering a baby on the lawn in front of the hospital when he went to work Sept. 14.
Spc. Micah Owens
and his pregnant wife Kayla had been to were at the hospital less than 12 hours before. She awoke around 4 a.m. with abdominal pains, but after examining her, medical staff sent her home. It wasn't until about 2:15 p.m. that she had began hurting badly again. She and decided to take a wait-and-see approach.
But at around 3 p.m. her water broke. Owens, who serves with 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, got a call with the newsthat his wife's water had broken. He hurried to pick her up; he said he was darting through traffic and cutting people off to get there.
By ut by the time they arrived at to the hospital, she already was in a tremendous amount of pain. So much so, she could not reach the hospital door. This was their third child; subsequent children can be born faster and this one was in a particular hurry.
"I guess he just got tired of staying in there and decided he was going to come out quick," Owens said. "Labor and all, water break to him being born, it was less than an hour."
Kayla Owens sat down on the lawn and the baby's head was already exposed. As little as Holt knew, Owens knew less.
"I'm infantry. I'm just a grunt. I have no idea what to do medically," Owens said the Alabama native. "We owe a lot to Master Sgt. Holt. If he wasn't there I don't know what I would have done."
Master Sgt. Carl Holt, a medic, happened to be on the scene when a baby was born on the lawn in front of the hospital at Fort Stewart, Ga. Holt helped with the delivery.
Photo Credit: Army
Holt said at first he thought the commotion was a training exercise for the hospital, but when he got closer, he realized it wasn't a drill. Holt had never been present for a birth aside from his two children, but the few soldiers on the scene were asking him what to do. He took charge, and said to go inside and tell hospital staff what was happening.
"Soldiers were trying to help. I just knew the baby was coming. I was going to have to be the one holding the baby," Holt said. "I didn't have any gloves on. It wasn't the best feeling in the world … Did I have second thoughts? Of course I did."
Owens said probably less than 30 seconds after his son was born, a flood of people rushed from the hospital to help. The cord was cut, and baby and mother were rushed into the hospital. But Kayla and Greyson avoided any complications after the unorthodox birth, and were eventually discharged. Dad expressed appreciation for the hospital staff, saying they responded very well.
Holt, meanwhile, was happy everything worked out, in his impromptu delivery, and while he said it was a victory for the hospital, he said "it definitely wasn't because of me."
"Afterwards, looking back on it, it was a good win-win for mom, the baby and the hospital," Holt said. "My son said I can cross that off my bucket list, but it was never on there."
