College student gives birth on campus bench during emergency drill

As faculty members at West Hills College in Lemoore gathered for training on how to handle campus emergencies, the news hit: A student was giving birth outside on a bench. They thought it was a drill.

It wasn’t.

Just outside, Jessylyn Domingo had sat down on a bench after having just taken a math test when she realized her baby was on his way. Luckily for her, Charles Freeman, a registered nurse and director of health careers at the college, was on his way to the emergency planning session at the Central Valley campus, KFSN-TV reported.

There, on a bench outside her math class, Domingo gave birth to Landen Alexander Domingo as Freeman assisted, tying off the umbilical cord and staying with the mother until an ambulance arrived.

“It was just crazy,” Domingo told the ABC affiliate. “The guy, I’m grateful whoever he was. He was the first one to come help me besides my mom. She just pulled up literally seconds after the baby came out and literally seconds after that other guy arrived.”

The unexpected birth at about 8 a.m. Friday happened on the same day college administrators were undergoing emergency Incident Command System training.

“When we heard that someone was having a baby on campus, we all thought it was part of the planning,” college President Don Warkentin told KFSN on Wednesday. “To say the least, we were definitely surprised that it was the real deal.”

The newborn -- who weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces -- and his mother were transported to a local hospital about 30 minutes after the birth.

“I was really impressed with the mother,” Freeman told KFSN. “She was really calm and had a sense of humor.”

College administrators told the Fresno Bee this week that mother and son were home and doing well.

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jason.wells@latimes.com

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