CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Sunday, Jul. 8, 2012 10:41AM EDT
Last Updated Sunday, Jul. 8, 2012 10:54AM EDT
Friends say a mother and her newborn baby boy are healthy and happy after an early Sunday morning delivery that took place on the shoulder of a busy Toronto-area highway.
The expectant woman and her friends were capping off a weekend getaway at Horseshoe Resort in Barrie, Ont., about one hour north of Toronto, when she began feeling sharp pains.
Friend Linda Langerak said the group immediately phoned the woman’s midwife, who instructed them to drive to Brampton Civic Hospital.
“The midwife had thought because the contractions had started at around 2:30 (a.m.), you probably have a few hours,” Langerak told CTV Toronto.
But the group, travelling in a small black sedan, never made it to the hospital.
Driver Kam Agarwal says the car was travelling southbound on Highway 400, approaching the exit for Highway 407 westbound, when the mother realized the baby couldn’t wait any longer.
“When we got to the 407, she said ‘call the ambulance,’” Agarwal recalled, noting the mother was “unbelievably calm” through the entire order.
The car had pulled onto the shoulder near the highway ramp, but by then it was too late.
“Lo and behold, she delivered her own baby in the back of the car,” Langerak said on Sunday morning, still standing on the side of Highway 400.
Police were alerted to the woman’s roadside delivery at about 4:35 a.m., according to Ontario Provincial Police.
Beside the woman was her daughter, a soon-to-be two-year-old who is now an older sister.
The newborn’s father, police and paramedics arrived on scene shortly after.
An ambulance transported the group to Humber River Regional Hospital, an Ontario Provincial Police spokesperson confirmed late Sunday morning.
Both the mother and her newborn are doing well, OPP Const. Linda Wolf confirmed.
Langerak echoed that sentiment.
“I think it’s a little bit of a shock to deliver your own baby in the back of a car but she’s fine, the baby’s fine,” she said on scene, as cars whizzed by behind her.
Then, with a smile, she added: “So, the girls’ weekend was a success."
