West Linn Police respond to I-205 south on an emergency child birth.
(PORTLAND, Ore.) - There was a different type of excitement on Interstate-205 around 3:45 this morning when a woman went into labor in a car moving down the freeway.
West Linn Police Spokesman Sgt. Neil Hennelly, says officers Pat McConnell and Ed Friend received a call from dispatch of a motorist having a baby on I-205 south near the Stafford Road interchange.
"The officers arrived within 3 minutes, however Olivia Grace had already been born," Hennelly said.
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue arrived a short time later and checked out the child and her mother. Both were transported to Meridian Park Hospital, and they are doing fine. Hennelly says they were headed for the birthing center near Meridian Park.
"This was this mom's fifth child, she came through very well and they were doing fine when our officers left the scene, you can hear the baby crying in the background on the audio recording, and that is like magic to the ears."
He says emergency personnel had some trouble finding the car at first because the 911 caller, the baby's new aunt, had to run to the closest sign to get a location fix for the dispatchers.
Hennelly told Salem-News that in his 19 years with the West Linn Police, he has seen similar things happen before, explaining that the city sits between Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin, and the Willamette Falls hospital in Oregon City. "But actually having a baby born on the freeway, that is a a rarity," he said.
Like all police throughout the country, West Linn officers are trained in basic first-aid. Of course Hennelly says that does not prepare them for babies being born on the side of the interstate.
"When it comes to medical training, they have a little bit; basic first aid skills, that sort of thing. A big plus was that both of the officers who responded were dads. That was better than having a couple of rookies show up, you could say they arrived with a couple of extra tools in the box," Hennelly joked.
He laughed while recounting an earlier prank, "My daughter is pregnant, so I emailed her and told her, 'Don't let this happen to you.'" It was a light moment for the West Linn officers and Hennelly says he is always thankful when stressful situations like this lead to a positive outcome.
FOX-12 in Portland reported this afternoon that the baby girl weighed seven pounds, nine ounces. "Pretty good sized baby" Hennelly said. "I wish we could report positive things like this more often, but every now and then something comes along and everything works out well and it's a nice change from some of the things we have to respond to".
Here is the audio clip of the 911 call:
Woman Gives Birth on Side of Oregon's I-205 Freeway (AUDIO)
Salem-News.com