January 26, 2009 According to new testimony from an Obama family friend President Obama was born in Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu, who learned this from the doctor in charge of the hospital that delivered Obama.
When Barack Hussein Obama places his hand on the Bible today to take the oath of office as 44th president of the United States, Barbara Nelson of Kenmore will undoubtedly think back to the day he was born. It was Aug. 4, 1961, at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu.
Obstetrician Rodney T. West
“I may be the only person left who specifically remembers his birth. His parents are gone, his grandmother is gone, the obstetrician who delivered him is gone,” said Nelson, referring to Dr. Rodney T. West, who died in February at the age of 98. Here’s the story: Nelson was having dinner at the Outrigger Canoe Club on Waikiki Beach with Dr. West, the father of her college friend, Jo-Anne. Making conversation, Nelson turned to Dr. West and said: “‘So, tell me something interesting that happened this week,’” she recalls.
His response: “Well, today, Stanley had a baby. Now that’s something to write home about.”
The new mother was Stanley (later referred to by her middle name of Ann) Dunham, and the baby was Barack Hussein Obama.
“I penned the name on a napkin, and I did write home about it,” said Nelson, knowing that her father, Stanley A. Czurles, director of the Art Education Department at Buffalo State College, would be interested in the “Stanley” connection.
She also remembers Dr. West mentioning that the baby’s father was the first black student at the University of Hawaii and how taken he was by the baby’s name.Is this story just “too good to be true?” Perhaps.
Source: The Buffalo News
Initial objections offered were that Dr. West had retired from delivering babies before 1961. This is questionable based on followup investigation (see below). The Buffalo News article stated that West had delivered Obama, but this was not what Nelson told the interviewer. The second objection was that West was not at the Kapi’olani Hospital, based on an obituary available on the Internet. However it turns out, according to new information discovered by an Obama contributor, that ”[West] served as Chief of Staff at … Kapi’olani Maternity Hospital, 1953, and Medical Director, Straub Clinic, 1967-77.” The quote is from a cached web page of the Mamiya Heritage Medical Center. The Mamiya web site is under redesign, but copy has been saved here. So it is very plausible that West was at the Kapi’olani Maternity Hospital (as it was called then) in an executive capacity in 1961.
In 2008 West’s family gave a donation over $5,000 in the doctor’s memory to the Foundations of Hawaii Pacific Health, including the Kapi’olani Health Foundation.
We also know from that memorial article that West was a member of the Outrigger Canoe Club mentioned in the newspaper story. The story, given the best information I have, remains very plausible.
Maybe it’s not too good to be true after all.
Followup. I received this response to an email query:
Our records show that Dr. Rodney T. West was Chief of Staff at Kapiolani Hospital in 1953. He was certified by the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology in 1958 and practiced at The Straub Clinic and Hospital until his retirement in December 1977.
Thank you for your interest.The Queens Medical CenterMamiya Medical Heritage Center
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