The home birth had been going well, with the baby having been delivered safely, when midwife Lauren Genter noticed that the mother was losing more blood than normal. The family was Amish and didn’t have a phone in the house, so Genter took her cellphone to the one window where she had spotty service to call for an ambulance. She was able to keep the mother stable while they waited.
The nearest hospital was a 45-minute drive away, but “you have to make judgment calls in rural areas before it’s an issue,” Genter said.