A Dad Delivered His Baby With A Pair Of iPhone Headphones & WOW, Just, WOW

The next time you yell at your kid to get off a digital device or worry about the effects of your baby already knowing how to swipe right, just remember that there's way more unexpected good that's come out of today's technology than we sometimes realize. An impressive example is this story coming from across the pond of a dad delivering his baby with his iPhone headphones. Let me just say, this story will completely wow you and probably help you hate the technology gods a little less.

As reported by Metro, Richard Cox of Fife, Scotland, had to make do with the tools he had when his wife went into labor over a month early. When Hayley Cox reported intense labor pains in early January — although the baby wasn't due until Feb. 27 — the dad sprung into action, helping deliver baby Emilie on the bathroom floor, according to Metro.

"It all happened so quickly — my wife went into labor late at night and before I had time to dial for an ambulance she’d been born," Cox told Metro.

After baby Emilie had arrived, though, the new dad realized he still needed help. "I rang [911] and the call-handler said I needed to find a bit of string — such as a shoelace — to tie up the umbilical cord... The only thing I could find was my iPhone earphones," he told the publication. "I tied them to the cord and it was fine."

Phew! They hadn't gotten to the hospital in time, but at least with the baby's umbilical chord tied — which stops the blood flow from the placenta — though, things seemed a little less stressful. Unfortunately, the new parents might not have known it yet, but with Emilie weighing in at 3 pounds, 14 ounces, she still needed urgent medical help, according to Heart. Luckily, an ambulance soon arrived and the family was taken to the hospital in nearby Kirkcaldy, where Emilie spent several weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit, according to The Scottish Sun.

"At the hospital, I was saying I cannot believe this," recalled the grateful dad, according to The Scottish Sun. As Metro reported, he went on to say:

I cannot remember if she was head first or what. The main priority was making sure she was breathing, and making sure her face was wiped. I did not appreciate she was born until the ambulance arrived. It’s amazing how your instinct takes over. If not for the call handler and paramedics, she would not be here now... With all the noise in the background, the [call operator] could have lost her cool as well.

Baby Emilie is now flourishing at a healthy 16-plus pounds, according to the Evening Telegraph, joining a clan that includes older brother Liam, 2, who was awakened by the commotion of his sister's birth, as the heroic dad told Metro.

If there a couple things we can certainly take from this dramatic and impressive tale, it's that, as parents, sometimes you just have to improvise and trust yourself (and your gut). Who knew those tangled up headphones at the bottom of your purse could really come in handy?

Well done, dad, well done.