Ten-year-old Jayden Fontenot is being hailed a hero for saving the life of his newborn baby brother and mother by performing an unexpected delivery at the family’s home.
The City of Sulphur has declared August 11th, “Jayden Fontenot Day” to recognize “his heroic act in an emergency situation, by saving the lives of his mother and baby brother,” wrote the City of Sulphur in a post on their Facebook page of the ceremony.
Aug. 11 was the day when Fontenot found his mother, Ashley Moreau, bleeding and in labor, and his baby brother coming out feet first in an extremely dangerous breech birth. His baby brother had decided to come early at 34 weeks.
Moreau didn’t realize she was in labor until she felt her baby’s feet hanging out when she was in the bathroom.
Her fiancé had already left, leaving herself and Jayden to deal with the situation.
Jayden first ran next door to his grandmother’s house. His grandmother called 911, but was unable to come and help with the delivery.
When Jayden returned, his mother was on the bathroom floor bleeding while his baby brother was suffocating.
“When he got to the bathroom, he just took a deep breath and said, ‘ok, Mom, just tell me what I need to do,’” Moreau told KPLC. “He didn’t look scared, he looked calm and brave and I said ‘ok, I’m going to tell you what to do and we need to get your brother out as fast as possible because he’s breeched and he can’t breathe.’”
Jayden then proceeded to pull his little brother out by his legs, a scary job that he handled with aplomb, says Moreau.
“I wasn’t even thinking, I was amazed. I didn’t know what was going on,” Jayden told KPLC. “I had to pull him by his legs, not hard, gently...I was hoping I didn’t hurt him while I pulled him out.”
When Jayden discovered the newborn was not breathing, he ran to the kitchen to get a nasal aspirator to clear the baby’s nose, which turned out to be a success.
Fortunately, EMS arrived just then to take over and get mom and baby to the hospital where both recovered quickly.
It could have gone much differently. Doctors say that if Jayden had not been there, his mother could have bled out during the delivery and the baby would not have had the chance to take the first life-saving breath.
