Marine in Iraq Participates in Child's Birth at Newton-Wellesley
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARINE ON THE FRONT LINES OF IRAQ PARTICIPATES IN BIRTH OF BABY AT NEWTON-WELLESLEY HOSPITAL
NEWTON, Mass. (August, 2008) – Newton-Wellesley Hospital and the Freedom Calls Foundation recently joined forces to help a local Dad participate in the birth of his first child – from the front lines of Iraq.
Through the generosity of Freedom Calls, which operates a satellite network to keep military families connected, Sergeant James L Parah talked his wife Olivia through labor and delivery right at her bedside at Newton-Wellesley Hospital via an enterprise class videoconference.
"I'm so thankful that Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Freedom Calls was able to make this happen for us. I thought I'd be having this baby alone and never imagined that my husband could be here for the birth when he is 9,000 miles away fighting a war," said new mom Olivia Parah. Joli Elle Parah was born Wednesday August 6 at 12:26pm. She weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 21 inches long.
Going forward, Freedom Calls has arranged for Sergeant Parah to see his wife and baby weekly at their home in Foxboro via video-conference.
The family video conferences are conducted over the satellite network that Freedom Calls has built in cooperation with the U.S. Army and Marines to serves U.S. deployed military personnel and their families 24 hours per day free of charge. It is funded 100% by donations by the American public. The Foundation receives no financial support from the government or the military. For more information, visit www.freedomcalls.org.
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