Freeway Baby Couldn't Wait to Arrive

Rush hour arrived early for an expectant mother in Santa Ana today.

The woman, who was being transported to a hospital by her husband, gave birth to a baby in their car on the shoulder of the Santa Ana (5) Freeway at 12:40 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Denise Quesada said.

The birth occurred on the southbound freeway shoulder near the North Bristol Street offramp. Officials did not release information on the gender of the baby or the identity of the parents.

Paramedics from Huntington Beach assisted with the delivery, along with a CHP officer, Quesada said.

"He really was just an extra set of hands," Quesada said of the officer. "The ambulance personnel handled most of it."

The CHP officer, a veteran of 17 years with the highway patrol, said the impromptu midwifery was a first for him.

"That's definitely one of the ones I'll remember for a while," the officer told reporters at the scene. The mother and child were taken to a hospital, Quesada said.

-- City News Service