A woman in labor who just couldn't make it to the hospital got an assist last week from New York State Police Trooper Timothy West, Jr., who responded to a 911 call just in time to help deliver a baby in a car on a dark, lonely stretch of Route 28 in the Delaware County town of Franklin.
Around 11 p.m. on March 18, the driver of the car called 911 to report that the passenger was in labor, said Trooper Nathan Riegal, public information officer for Troop C. Within minutes of West's arrival, the baby was born in the parked car, Riegal said.
"The child was born successfully without any issues," Riegal said. "[West] was able to wrap the child up in a blanket and hand it over to the medical people who arrived. The child was born just as EMS was showing up."
West has been on the force since 2007, Riegal said. Before last week's call, he had never assisted in a delivery.
Both mother and child were taken to the A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta by ambulance, and were in good health, according to a police news statement. The mother did not wish to be identified, Riegal said.
