BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – A Florida dad was left to play the role of doctor and deliver his own child when doctors and nurses left the delivery room.
Zaheer Ali says shortly after being admitted into Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach, nurses induced his wife's labor. Fifteen minutes later, Ali's wife was dilated to 10 centimeters and was ready to have their baby girl.
However, at the same moment, Ali's wife's doctor was called to perform an emergency Caesarean section for another patient.
"Baby's coming and [my] wife's telling the nurse 'I can't hold it, the baby's coming,'" Ali told WPEC-TV. "The nurse said you have to wait and hold it. The doctor is busy with a C-section and that takes priority over you."
Ali says the nurse's comments left him stunned.
"How could they say something like that when you're giving a birth for a child?" Ali said. "The nurse walked out of the room and left us there alone."
With no nurses or doctors around, Ali stepped in and delivered the baby. Ali says he was pressing the call button to get any nurse to come help.
"The nurse and two other assistant nurses came running in and cut the cord and that was it," Ali said.
Despite the chaotic moments surrounding the birth, Ali and his wife welcomed a healthy 6-pound, 3-ounce baby girl named Alliyah.