She Just Couldn't Wait: Police Deliver Baby 1 Block From N.J. Mother's Home

SPOTSWOOD, NJ - Ashton Wilson just wouldn't wait. Last month, officers with the Spotswood police department helped a local woman deliver a baby boy — on the side of the road. At 12:40 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23, the police were called to a home on Carley Place for a report of a woman in labor. Mom Kimberly Wilson, 33, told Patch what happened that night. She was 39 weeks pregnant:

"That Tuesday I went in for my regular check-up and told my doctor I wanted to be induced. I just had a feeling that I was going to deliver him early and I had a feeling it would happen fast. I'd been having contractions all week and my two other deliveries were fast births," said Wilson. "However, it was two days before Thanksgiving and they told me they didn't want to induce over the holidays, due to being short staffed."

Her son Austin, 5, was born in 12 hours, and Logan, 2, was born in 7 hours. Of course, Wilson was not expecting her third son to come quite this fast. So she went home and sure enough, at 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, her water broke while she was fast asleep. Wilson woke up her husband Ryan, 37, and called her mother to come over and watch the other two boys so they could make the 40-minute drive to Jersey Shore Medical Center, where she works as an X-ray tech, and planned to deliver. And that's when the contractions hit.

"My husband is starting the car and the contractions started with no break. I'm talking, it went from 0 to 60 in seconds," Wilson said. "I didn't even have time to think and I couldn't even talk, it was so painful. My mom got there and I just told them, 'You've got to do something. I think I'm going to have this baby in the living room.'"

Wilson's mother called 911 and officers Rick Drude and Kevin Palmer of the Spotswood PD showed up, along with an ambulance. Wilson was put on a stretcher and the ambulance headed out. They made it to Adirondack Avenue, less than a block from her home, when she yelled at them to stop.

"I said, 'I can feel him coming out!' So the ambulance pulled over and the cops got out, ran around and opened the ambulance back doors," she said. "I pushed him out in less than a minute. Alex (Spotswood EMT Alex Lasher) caught the baby and my husband cut the cord."

Ashton Wilson was born at 1 a.m. on the side of the road. In fact, his birth certificate says Adirondack Avenue, Spotswood.

"They were able to suction the fluid out of his lungs and then they just wrapped him up and put him on my chest. It was really cold because we were outside and it was the day before Thanksgiving!" said Wilson. From there, the ambulance took the 8 pound, 7 ounce-baby to Jersey Shore Medical Center.

He's three weeks old now and doing great.

"When I think about it, so many things could have gone wrong. What if I started bleeding? What if something happened to him? But it was all fine," she said. "Officer Kevin Palmer was just really calm and reassuring the whole time. He kept telling me, 'We're going to take of everything, everything will be fine.'"

This is is actually not the first time police in tiny Spotswood have helped deliver a baby: On Feb. 23 of this year, at 9:52 p.m., Sgt. Nichols and Patrolman Berlingieri responded to a Main Street home for a report of a woman in labor, where they helped the woman deliver another healthy baby boy.

In addition to Lasher, Spotswood EMT Kelly Flynn was present at the birth. Paramedics from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital also arrived to the scene.

Photos provided by Spotswood Police and Kimberly Wilson.