Girl, 6, helps mom give birth

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FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- A North Carolina family is heaping praise on a 6-year-old girl who served as her mother's only helper during an emergency home birth.

Briana Johnson of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., said she began feeling mild contractions early Wednesday and called her father for a ride to the hospital when her water broke upon stepping out of bed, the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reported Thursday.

Johnson said she soon realized the baby was coming faster than her father and called an ambulance. She woke her 6-year-old daughter, Diyana, to assist with the birth.

"I was asleep and my mama woke me up," the first-grader said. "She had stomach pains, and then she had the baby. I helped by getting the baby a blanket and opening the door for the rescue squad."

Johnson, a nurse at Raleigh's Tammy Lynn Center, said Diyana helped her deliver baby Madisyn before emergency crews arrived. Johnson and her father, Torris Jones, praised the 6-year-old for her help and bravery during the incident.

"I just thought that was awesome," Jones said. "She said, 'I almost cried when my mama was screaming. You told me to be a big girl, and I was a big girl.'"