First responders deliver baby boy on the side of a Texas road

DEL VALLE, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - Tuesday morning, first responders helped a woman welcome her new baby boy into the world on the side of Highway 71 in Del Valle.

“Delivery was imminent. They estimated contractions at two minutes apart,” said Hank Moore, clinical specialist with Austin/Travis County EMS. 

The expectant parents realized with morning traffic in full swing, there wasn't enough time to get to the hospital. So they pulled their sedan over on the side of Highway 71 at the Kellam Road intersection. 

“Mom was 38 weeks along, so this was a normal time for her to have the delivery. So the question at that point becomes, how long is the labor process going to last? One thing to take into account is that with more pregnancies labor tends to last shorter amounts of time,” said Jon Kalinowski, also a clinical specialist with ATCEMS. 

Luckily, 12 minutes before the baby boy entered the world, Kalinowski and Moore arrived to help ESD11 who was already on scene. 

“We got there in the nick of time basically,” said Kalinowski. 
 
“There's nobody else I would want to deliver a baby with on the side of the road than Jon,” Moore said. 

It was the second time the team has taken the lead helping with the entire birthing process. 

“This is the first one on the side of the freeway. The last one was on a balcony,” said Kalinowski. 
 
“Being the second time, you feel more confident in what you're doing,” Moore said.  

The mother and father handled the process surprisingly well, considering they were in the back of an ambulance on the side of the highway. 

“She actually was phenomenal. She was very calm throughout. As soon as the baby was delivered, obviously a big sigh of relief to see the baby came out perfectly healthy,” said Moore. 

It's an experience Jon and Hank will never forget. 

“It was excellent. I actually handed baby to mom and she just, you could just see the sigh of relief,” Moore said.  

“That's pretty cool. That's pretty unique. I don't think anything else in this field really compares,” said Kalinowski.  

ATCEMS took the mother and child to a local hospital to recover. 

Although there were no complications with the delivery, first responders suggest expectant mothers go to the hospital or call for an ambulance as soon as the suspect they are having contractions.