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Special Delivery: Doctor Steps In to Deliver Baby Before Giving Birth Herself

Woman in hospital bed holding newborn baby

Amanda Hess, D.O., an expectant mother and OB-GYN at HCA Healthcare’s Frankfort Regional Medical Center, worked until the “very last second” of her pregnancy last week. The Kentucky physician delivered another woman’s baby hours before giving birth to her own.

Dr. Hess, who had checked into the hospital, changed into her gown and settled into her room, heard a woman in labor down the hall. After realizing the patient’s physician was still en route and she was fully dilated, Dr. Hess stepped in and did what she does every day – delivered a baby.

“I put on some boots over my flip flops and found another gown to cover myself up and did put my stuff to deliver on and delivered a baby,” Dr. Hess told WLex-18 News.

Halliday Johnson, who had seen Dr. Hess on previous doctor visits, gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The physician on-call arrived just after the delivery, and completed the birthing process with Mrs. Johnson.

She told NBC News: “She’s definitely earned her time off. I appreciate what she did for my family, and it speaks a lot to who she is as a woman and a mother as well as a doctor. It makes you feel better, bringing a baby girl into the world, knowing there are women like her willing to step up like that.”

Dr. Hess later gave birth to her own little girl. Both moms and babies are doing well.

Watch Dr. Hess on the TODAY show here!

Dr. Amanda Hess is an obstetrics & gynecology doctor who practices in Frankfort, Ky. She is affiliated with Frankfort Regional Medical Center, a hospital managed by HCA Healthcare.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services, is comprised of 183 hospitals and more than 2,300 sites of care, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. Our more than 283,000 colleagues are connected by a single purpose — to give patients healthier tomorrows.

As an enterprise, we recognize the significant responsibility we have as a leading healthcare provider within each of the communities we serve, as well as the opportunity we have to improve the lives of the patients for whom we are entrusted to care. Through the compassion, knowledge and skill of our caregivers, and our ability to leverage our scale and innovative capabilities, HCA Healthcare is in a unique position to play a leading role in the transformation of care.

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