Army medic delivers own child at Fort Lewis

An Army medic who missed the birth of his first two children was on hand to deliver his third while on leave from duty in Iraq.

Sgt. Jason Boyd, based at Fort Stewart, Ga., arrived at the family's home in Yelm on Saturday. When his wife Benicia went into labor early Sunday, they and their two daughters piled into the car about 3 a.m. and headed toward Madigan Army Medical Center on this post near Tacoma.

At the main gate, however, the mother had her husband pull over, saying the baby was not going to wait. Isaiah Boyd was born at 4 a.m. in front of his parents' truck.

Other medics at Fort Lewis said Isaiah was lucky his father had training because the baby came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.

"I knew a little bit. I knew what to do as long as nothing went wrong," Boyd said.

He said most of his training involved battlefield circumstances. He also got some brief instruction on delivering a child but said he never expected to use it, especially not for his own child.

Boyd missed the birth of his first daughter while serving in Iraq and couldn't make it to the second because of medic training. He made sure he had leave around the time his wife was due to give birth again.

The whole family is now back home in Yelm. Boyd leaves to return to Iraq on July 24 to resume a combat tour that is scheduled to end in December.

"He is here for a short time," said Benicia's mother, Myrna Veles, "but at least he was here for the important thing."

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Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com