{"id":10317,"date":"2023-05-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=10317"},"modified":"2023-05-13T06:49:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T06:49:14","slug":"army-spouse-delivers-italian-neighbors-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=10317","title":{"rendered":"Army spouse delivers Italian neighbors\u2019 baby"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Kate Bales, an Army spouse and registered nurse, helped Italian neighbors deliver their baby girl, Margherita, in the early morning hours of April 2 in Vicenza, Italy.
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VICENZA, Italy \u2013 When Capt. Jacob Bales heard his Italian neighbor Riccardo frantically knocking at his door in the middle of the night, he woke his spouse Kate.<\/p>\n

At 2:35 a.m., Bales knew there was problem. His neighbor explained that his pregnant girlfriend, Alice, was in labor and they needed a ride to the hospital. Bales, 37, a military police officer who serves as an assistant operations officer for the 173rd Airborne Brigade at Caserma Del Din, called out to Kate, 36, a registered nurse, to come quickly.<\/p>\n

As Kate walked over to their neighbor\u2019s apartment, she called back to her husband, \u201cTowels, towels, towels.\u201d By the time Bales caught up to her a minute later, towels in hand, the baby was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I opened Alice and Riccardo\u2019s door, I found Kate sitting in the living room floor, holding a newborn, Margherita,\u201d Bales said.<\/p>\n

May 12 is celebrated as Military Spouses Day. This Sunday, May 14, is also a special Mother\u2019s Day for Alice, whose American neighbor \u2013 a U.S. Army spouse \u2013 helped deliver her daughter.<\/p>\n

That morning, April 2, Kate delivered Margherita. She opened her airway so she could cry, cleaned her off, and put the baby on her mother\u2019s chest to keep her warm. Then, they waited for Italian paramedics to arrive, watching patiently as ambulance lights drew closer to their San Pio X neighborhood adjacent to Caserma Ederle.<\/p>\n

The parents, who asked The Garrison Outlook to only use their first names in this story, and their newborn, then went by ambulance to San Bortolo hospital for further care. Both mother and daughter are healthy and returned home five days later.<\/p>\n

Soldiers train to perform under stress, to take the next step in challenging situations. In this case, Kate\u2019s experience \u2013 12 years in nursing \u2013 keeps her calm, Bales said. In 2013, while the couple was stationed at Fort Bragg, Kate helped delivered a baby while working at the emergency room in Lillington, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timeline for this whole event cannot be understated,\u201d Bales said. \u201cI woke up and within two to three minutes, Kate was holding a baby. It was that fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n An Army spouse, Kate Bales, left, and her neighbor, Alice, in Vicenza, Italy.
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Having Kate nearby during the deliver made Alice feel safe, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it was because she is a nurse or because of the good relationship that we have built,\u201d Alice said. \u201cThat night, she made me feel really safe and was able to keep me calm. Especially, when she told me that Margherita was fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Jacob and Kate Bales are departing U.S. Army Garrison Italy for Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They must say farewell to their Italian neighbors, but not before several chances to hold baby Margherita, an adorable blue-eyed girl whose looks resemble her father, Jacob Bales said.<\/p>\n

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\n Capt. Jacob Bales and his wife, Kate, pose for a photo with their daughter, in Vicenza, Italy.
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\u201cFor me, it\u2019s amazing watching Kate with her,\u201d Bales said. \u201cThey will be forever connected. Kate\u2019s the American neighbor who walked in out of nowhere and delivered her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kate Bales, an Army spouse and registered nurse, helped Italian neighbors deliver their baby girl, Margherita, in the early morning hours of April 2 in Vicenza, Italy. (Photo Credit: contributed image) VIEW ORIGINAL VICENZA, Italy \u2013 When Capt. Jacob Bales heard his Italian neighbor Riccardo frantically knocking at his door in the middle of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10319,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10317"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10323,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10317\/revisions\/10323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}