“Meet Mackenzie Copper Vincent, a sweet baby girl with a pretty amazing birth story! (Hint: Her middle name has special significance)”
Here’s the incredible story as told by St. Anthony Summit Medical Center at Copper:
FRISCO, COLO: From ski injuries to sore throats, the physicians and nurses at St. Anthony Copper Mountain Clinic see it all at the urgent and emergency care clinic at the base of the Copper Mountain resort. Take, for example, the expectant mother in active labor who arrived at the clinic’s doors last month.
Leadville resident Jacquelyn “Jaci” Vincent was en route to her obstetrician’s office in Vail on January 17 when it became clear her baby wasn’t going to wait for the drive over Vail Pass. With her mother-in-law behind the wheel, they were just passing Copper Mountain’s free parking area when a decision had to be made.
“We had talked about going to (St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in) Frisco, but I didn’t think we’d make it there in time,” Tracy Vincent, Jaci’s mother-in-law, said. But they were both familiar with St. Anthony Copper Mountain Clinic – Tracy had taken her son there a decade ago when he was suffering a severe asthma attack, and Jaci received care at the clinic a few years ago for a skiing injury.
Tracy pulled the vehicle into the clinic’s ambulance parking area and walked into the clinic’s back door a few minutes after the clinic had closed for the day. “My daughter-in-law is in labor and I think her contractions are at a minute and a half. Can you help me?”
Within seconds, the clinic’s physicians and nurses were at Jaci’s side, helping her into the clinic. “By the time we got inside I think I had two contractions before I pushed,” Jaci said. Minutes after their arrival, Jaci’s daughter was born.
“Dr. Elsie Haynes (a family practice resident physician rotating through the clinic) delivered Mackenzie and was amazing through it,” Jaci said. And her mother-in-law never left her side: “She listened to everything that I needed, or everything I could say that I needed. She was just so happy and supportive. She was probably my No. 1 support person.”
Dr. Josh Hansen, another of the Copper clinic’s family practice resident physicians, held baby Mackenzie while Jaci was being prepped for the ambulance ride to Vail and her obstetrician. “He definitely lightened the mood a lot,” Jaci said. “It turned into, ‘Wow, I’m so relieved. This is a wonderful situation with everyone laughing.’”
One person who didn’t make the birth was Jaci’s husband, Cody. He’s an electrician in Vail and was rushing from work to the Copper clinic when he received word that Mackenzie had been born. He turned around at Vail Pass and met his wife and baby daughter in Vail instead.
Jaci says Mackenzie is doing great. The 5-pound, 7-ounce girl is one of the rare Leadville babies who doesn’t need supplemental oxygen.
“She’s the most perfect baby anyone could ask for,” Jaci said.
The Vincents hadn’t picked a middle name before Mackenzie’s birth, but they quickly settled on one that makes for a fitting tribute. For the rest of her life, Mackenzie Copper Vincent will have quite the birth story to share.
Dr. Jon Feeney, the clinic’s attending physician, summed up St. Anthony Copper Mountain Clinic’s scope of services like this: “We do everything, including delivering babies.”
St. Anthony Copper Mountain Clinic and its counterparts at the base of Breckenridge and Keystone operate seven days a week throughout the ski season. Although affectionately referred to as the “ski clinics,” they serve as walk-in urgent and emergency care centers for all visitors and locals. And, as the Vincents discovered, the clinics can even deliver babies.
Congratulations to the Vincents for the newest addition to the family and much respect to the staff of St. Anthony Copper Mountain Clinic for doing everything from triaging injured skiers to delivering babies. Cheers!!!
images StAnthonySummit FB
