A Baby's First Cry

Mackenzie Siegling’s baby, Jack, was born with his cord wrapped around his neck, a condition called a nuchal cord. When Jack didn’t immediately take his initial first breath, the labor and delivery team at Brookings Health quickly and calmly reacted to the situation and helped him breathe.

Mackenzie’s water broke in the morning at work the day Jack, her second little boy, was born. The labor process from that point went smoothly until delivery. 

“When it came time to actually deliver Jack, we noticed his cord was wrapped very tightly around his neck. And at that point, Dr. Bennis delivered him very quickly,” said Mackenzie.

It’s common for babies to be born with a nuchal cord. Up to one-third of babies are born with the condition, most without any complications. When a rare complication does occur, labor and delivery teams need to act swiftly. 

“[The labor and delivery team] reacted quickly and professionally. It was like all hands were on deck,” said Mackenzie. 
Within moments of Jack’s birth, Mackenzie and her husband saw additional nurses, a laboratory professional, an X-ray technologist and a nurse anesthetist enter their room as well as Dr. Shelby Eischens. All were there to help Jack take his first real cry. 

“Every mom and parent hopes and wishes for that first cry and we didn’t hear that right away.”

It took only two to three minutes for Jack to sound his first cry. But to a parent, those critical minutes can seem like an eternity. To reassure Mackenzie and her husband, the medical team kept them well informed while they worked on Jack. 

“They gave us enough information to calm our nerves, but they didn’t give us too much information where I was super nervous,” said Mackenzie. 

About an hour after the medical team had stabilized Jack, Mackenzie finally got to hold him, thankful those anxious initial moments had passed.

“We couldn’t ask for a better situation with what was happening,” said Mackenzie. “Everybody knew exactly what to do. You could tell they had prepped for this type of situation.”

Thanks to the labor and delivery team’s training and fast action, today Jack is a healthy baby boy.

“I can’t speak enough about how professional everybody stayed and how supportive everybody stayed throughout that process.”

Want to know more? Listen to Mackenzie tell her story online at brookingshealth.org/Mackenzie_S.