Saskatchewan woman performs CPR on newborn, then gives birth to two more

REGINA — A Saskatchewan woman who had to perform CPR on one of her newborn triplets while still in labour with the other two says all three babies are doing awesome.

Danielle Johnston said her triplets, Karlee, Liam and Jack, are in the neonatal intensive care unit at a Regina hospital and will stay there for another two weeks.

“No adverse effects on Karlee at all and they’re all just so strong and healthy,” Johnston said Friday.

Johnston started getting wicked contractions on her bathroom floor at their house near Griffin, about 130 kilometres southeast of Regina, on July 16. Just hours earlier at a doctor’s appointment, Johnston was told everything looked good for 32 weeks.

Karlee was born soon after, although Johnston noticed that the tiny baby’s breathing wasn’t right.

“Her breathing was really shallow and lagging so I just gave her CPR and pumped her chest until the ambulance came,” Johnston said.

It took more than 45 minutes, she said. When paramedics arrived, they put an oxygen mask on Karlee.

Johnston was taken to a hospital in nearby Weyburn before being transported to Regina where she had a caesarean section for Liam and Jack. The two boys were officially born on July 17.

Johnston, 34, and her husband Trevor now have seven children.

“Little kids are amazing and I just love ’em,” she said. “But the chance of having triplets like we did is one in 10,000 naturally like this, so obviously, you know, they’re here for a reason.”

Johnston calls her oldest son Dillon, 15, a hero for his role in their newborns’ births. He called 911 as his mother started the contractions, helped his mother to the couch and wrapped the baby in a blanket. He also drove the family’s vehicle out to the highway to meet the ambulance.

His mother said that Dillon always wanted to be a mechanic, but she thinks he should consider being an EMT.

“Because he was so calm and cool and collected,” Johnston said. “It was just amazing for a kid. Jeeze, he just did wonderful. I’m so proud of him.”

Johnston is a school bus driver and said she learned her CPR from Weyburn Mayor Marcel Roy, who teaches the life savings technique.

She said despite the hectic births, she’s happy and doing well.

“Just on Cloud 9 because I’ve got all these beautiful kids and life can’t actually get any better than what it is right now,” she said.

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Ryan McKenna, The Canadian Press