A Guide Dog in the Delivery Room: Chantal and Rick Oakes’ Story

AUDIO VERSION

Guide Dog Awareness Month is a chance to share not only the challenges faced by guide dog users, but also the stories that show how acceptance and respect can make a lasting impact. One of those stories comes from 1989, when AEBC member Chantal and her husband Rick Oakes welcomed their daughter, Whitney, into the world at Grace Hospital in Vancouver.

At the time, Rick had a guide dog named Bryor, and the couple asked if he could stay with them during the birth. To their relief, the hospital agreed. As Chantal recently shared, the decision made sense: without Bryor, Rick’s independence would have been compromised. He wouldn’t have been able to leave for meals or move around on his own. Allowing the dog into the room was not just compassionate—it was practical and fair.

Looking back today, Chantal reflects on the broader message of that moment. “When I think of all the taxi drivers over the years who left us in the rain, the restaurants where we would be denied entry until we vowed to bring legal charges, I chuckle to myself and I think, ‘Do you live under a rock? How are you not aware of the role of a guide dog and what it represents to a blind person?’ Blind people eat out and travel by cars, they just can’t drive themselves.”

But in this case, the hospital recognized Rick’s rights and supported his independence—an example she hopes others will follow.

The story turned out to be bigger than the family expected. What they thought would be a private birth became front-page news.

On March 13, 1989, the Vancouver Sun reached out for an interview and published an article the next day that not only shared their experience but was later picked up by other outlets around the world. Radio stations even invited them for interviews. For the Oakes family, it was both exciting and overwhelming, but most of all, it helped raise awareness about the role of guide dogs and the rights of their handlers.

Today, both Chantal and Whitney are members of our organization, and this piece of history continues to resonate. Whitney was only five days old when the photo in the Sun was taken, yet the story of her birth remains a reminder that inclusion matters—and that a guide dog is more than just a companion.

Below is a reprint of the original article from the Vancouver Sun, March 14, 1989.

Dog guides Dad through birth

The Vancouver Sun, Tuesday, March 14, 1989

By Joanne Blain

Sun Medical Reporter

The new father was fine, but the dog had to leave the delivery room twice to throw up.

Rick Oakes and his guide dog, Bryor, were there when Whitney Leanne Oakes was born last Wednesday at Grace Hospital.

Oakes and his wife Chantal, who are both blind, wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I like that dog better than some people I know,” Chantal Oakes said Monday, cradling a sleeping Whitney in her arms in the couple’s Surrey home. “He’s just like part of the family.”

There were also practical reasons for having the three-year old golden retriever in the delivery room. It allowed Rick to leave the hospital for meals and the occasional cigarette during the 24 hours Chantal was in labour.

“Without Bryor, I was sort of locked in there,” he said. “I couldn't come and go as I pleased.”

Rick said he also wanted to make a point after having had his legal right to have Bryor with him challenged by everyone from taxi drivers to restaurant owners.

“I thought it would be a golden opportunity to let people know Guide Dogs can go anywhere,” he said.

Rick said he has been told by a representative of Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind that Bryor’s presence in the delivery room is likely a first in Canada.

A congenital disorder left Rick Oakes completely blind. Chantal, who suffers from cataracts, has about three percent vision, but is classified as legally blind.

 But baby Whitney, who arrived a few days early at eight pounds, six ounces has perfect sight, her father said.

Except for his bouts of intestinal distress, Bryor didn't create any problems during the birth.

“He didn't get upset,” said Chantal. “He probably was bored.”

But when all eyes were on the baby after the event, the dog picked up a towel and started dragging it around the room. “He was trying to attract attention to himself,” Rick said.

That's understandable, since everyone from doctors to orderlies had been dropping by to give him a scratch under the collar, Chantal said.

“When Bryor and Rick would go out of the room, people would come in and say: ‘Where's the dog?’”

Chantal’s obstetrician, Dr. Barry Sanders, had no qualms about the dog being in the delivery room.

“It was an unusual request,” he said. “But the dog is great. He would never bother anybody.”

After Sanders made the request on behalf of the Oakes, Grace Hospital administration also okayed the request.

Rick and Chantal are still adjusting to the new person in their household, but Bryor is taking it in stride. “He goes and lies in her room when she's sleeping,” Rick said.