American Notes BIRTHS

Plenty of would-be stars spend years angling for -- and just missing -- a national television appearance. For Myra Kristine Palmer, a near-miss with TV fame came very early in life. In fact, she had just been born.

It happened at the Covenant Birthing Center in Anaheim, Calif., where obstetrician Charles Wesley Turner Jr. used forceps to hasten Myra's debut. Moments after her birth at 15 seconds past midnight on Jan. 1, Turner hustled the 6-lb. 12-oz. baby to the Melodyland Christian Center 150 ft. away, where the nationally televised Praise the Lord program was being filmed. Turner may have hoped to display Myra as one of 1990's first babies. Alas, the lights and cameras had been turned off at midnight. Although Turner says the baby was in no danger from his Hollywood-style obstetrics, the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance is investigating.