Jailer delivers baby girl in the parking lot

RONAN - A jailer at the Tribal Law and Order Saturday night came in to work to cover a shift for someone else and ended up delivering a baby girl at the facilities' front parking lot.

Margaret Hewankorn, a recent Salish Kootenai graduate and jailer at Tribal Law and Order, was hired three months ago to work the night shift. She expected another day of booking law-breakers, placing them in cells, followed by the routine of paperwork. Instead, the evening changed dramatically when dispatcher T.J. Haynes told her there was a couple in the front having a baby.

"The couple called the dispatcher a few minutes earlier, around 6:30 p.m.," said Hewankorn, a Tribal member. "The father told him his wife was having a baby and asked for help in alerting the hospital and staff at St. Joseph's in Polson because he was afraid they were running out of time. T.J. asked him if her water had broken and the father said 'no,' so we figured he would be there with time to spare. The dispatcher then jokingly told him not to worry - if worse came to worse, we deliver babies all the time. A few minutes later, he was there."

It was when the couple passed through Pablo that the father called dispatch again on his cell phone and told him he was on his way to Tribal Law and Order. His wife was giving birth and there was no way they would make it to Polson in time. When they arrived, the dispatcher turned in disbelief to Hewankorn and told her she had to go out there and see what was going on. They were the only two people available at the time and the dispatcher couldn't leave his post, so it was up to Hewankorn to see to the matter.

"I went out there not knowing what to expect," said Hewankorn. "I'd never delivered a baby in my life. I had no clue. I really didn't know what to do. All I knew is that we had to have a lot of towels, so we got those. I placed them around the mother and the baby came out. The baby girl was crying pretty loudly. I was relieved because I knew that was a very good sign."

The baby was born in the front seat of the car before emergency response crews reached the facility. A few minutes later an ambulance from Ronan arrived to transport the infant and mother to St. Luke's Hospital.

Tribal police captain Gene Fenton said their purpose is to assist the community, regardless of what form that might take.

"Some people think all we do is arrest criminals, but we have a highly qualified staff that is capable of going beyond the expected. Maggie did a great job and I commend her actions under a stressful situation," Fenton said.

The mother and baby are doing well, but wanted to remain anonymous.