Three Laurel, Maryland, police officers never suspected they’d help bring a baby girl into the world when they went to work on Friday. News4’s Darcy Spencer spoke to the officers who helped a woman who went into labor on the side of a road.
A group of officers turned a car into a delivery room to help a mother who went into labor on the side of a road in Prince George's County, Maryland, Friday night.
A man flagged down Laurel City Police Officer Shermon Willis around 7:50 p.m. at Van Dusen Road and MD-198 in Laurel.
"It looked like he really needed some help," Willis said.
The driver told Willis his pregnant wife sitting in the passenger seat of their Nissan Rogue was in labor and needed help.
Willis, a rookie officer who has been on the job for just 8 months, quickly called for back up.
"I definitely didn't wake up ... thinking, 'OK, I'm going to deliver a baby,'" Willis said.
Pfc. James Bright, who is also a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician, happened to be close by and came to help Willis.
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The father-to-be asked if the officers could escort them to a hospital with their lights and sirens on — but Bright said he could tell there was no time.
"So, I said, 'Oh well, I guess we're just going to have to do this on the side of the road because there wasn't a hospital close by to do it,'" Bright said.
But with his experience as an EMT, it was't Bright's first time helping deliver a baby.
"[I was] not panicked at all. Once I got there and I was able to observe the scene and see what we had, I just knew it was time to step in and take care of what we knew we had to do," he said.
A third officer, Cpl. Juan Diaz-Chavarria, used supplies from his first aid kit to turn the couple's car into an impromptu delivery room.
Bright coached the mother through the process, and a few minutes later, a healthy baby girl was born. The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department later arrived and helped cut the umbilical cord.
Medics then took the child and mother to a hospital for routine aftercare.
The couple and their new bundle of joy were reunited with the officers on Monday. The happy parents named her Angeline Bailey.
