BAGHDAD — On the eve of Parliamentary elections, a fortuitous birth took place at the 10th Combat Support Hospital here.

On the outskirts of Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad near Fallujah, an expectant 38-year-old mother knew she needed help.

Her water had just broken and election curfew restrictions were near, forcing her to make a tough decision.

She knew her midwife could only provide limited care and that if she and her baby were to survive, she would need a miracle.

“Did I save the mother and baby’s lives... maybe,” said Col. Brian Crisp, M.D., who is the chief of obstetrics and gynecology at the hospital. “The bottom line is that you would not electively deliver a breached baby out there,” he said.

Crisp, who has delivered more than a thousand babies during his career, said the mother was breached and labored, meaning that the baby was coming out with her butt down.

“She was the first democratic baby in Iraq and he saved her,” said Capt. Ron White, M.D, an anesthesiologist at the 10th CSH.

The mother came under Crisp’s and the hospital staff’s care through some decisive decision making on the part of Iraqi Army Soldiers who were contacted by the mother’s midwife. The IA Soldiers then shuttled her to a nearby forward operating base, where she was flown into Baghdad.

“It’s a sign,” said the baby’s grateful grandmother on the child’s being born on the day of the election. The baby, whose name is Tamarra, will grow up in a safer and more secure Iraq now, she said. “I just want peace on Earth.”

“This is a very cool thing,” said Crisp. “It’s a nice change to be bringing life into the world. She’s the most spoiled baby in Baghdad right now; all the nurses are clamoring over her.”

Only two babies have been delivered at the CSH, and they were both born on Iraqi election days symbolizing a new era in Iraqi governance.

“A beautiful baby like that can give us hope for the future in this troubled land,” said Crisp.