Baby comes fast, but officer is used to speeders
Salem policeman says wife, infant boy are fine after birth




A Salem police officer ended up delivering his wife's baby at their southeast Salem home Tuesday — and perhaps saving the infant's life.

Ryan and Lisa Morris didn't expect their son, Andrew James, to come so quickly. After all, he wasn't due to arrive for another 10 days.

About 8:10 a.m., Ryan Morris got the call that his wife's water had broken, and he rushed home. It was only 8:30 a.m., but the birth had progressed quickly.

"I got home and changed my clothes real quick and started throwing clothes in a bag, but the contractions kept coming — faster and stronger," Ryan Morris said. "And I said: 'We got to go. We got to go.'"

But it was too late to go anywhere.

"That's when we put Lisa on the floor and called 911," he said.

Something was wrong; The child seemed stuck. They realized the umbilical cord was wrapped around the infant's neck.

"So I put my finger between the cord and his throat," Ryan Morris said.

Kathryn Wheeler, a 911 trainee, and 14-year veteran training officer Christi Wolfe, told the couple to slip the cord over the baby's head. It worked.

"I was kind of panicked … and I didn't know if he was breathing, but as soon as he moved his fingers and started moving his head around, I took a big sigh of relief," Morris said.

Marion County Fire District fire fighters and paramedics soon arrived at the couple's home and took the family to Silverton Hospital for treatment.

"Happily, Mom and the new baby boy are both doing well," said Marion County Fire District 1 Battalion Chief Patrick Wineman.

Ryan Morris said his wife is really tired, but "she's feeling much better."

Andrew James was 7 pounds, 14.5 ounces and 21 inches long. The couple's first child, Emily, 3, has been introduced to her new brother.

"Andrew, he's conked out; he's really tired," Ryan Morris said. "We did all the initial shots and tests. He got his first bath, and he's zonked out right now in his grandma's arms."