Hazlet Police Sgt. Talks About Delivering Baby In Parking Lot Of Police HQ

HAZLET, NJ — It was Wednesday, Sept. 6. A little after 4 p.m. Sgt. Kevin Geoghan of the Hazlet police had just sat down to review reports for the day.

That's when a page came over the intercom at the Middle Road police headquarters: A man needed assistance in the parking lot.

"Usually it's two guys having a fight. So I got up and ran out there and instead it's a lady having a baby in her car," he said.

The Hazlet woman and her husband just could not make it to the hospital in time. Mom was sitting in the backseat of their white SUV, in fully active labor. Her husband was in the parking lot, beeping the horn and shouting for police officers — anyone, really — to come out and help them. The couple's older child, a toddler boy, sat in the car seat next to his mother. The baby's head was already crowning.

Instinct kicked in. Like many police officers, Geoghan was trained how to deliver a baby. Of course, that was fifteen years ago, in 1999, at the police academy. Still, Geoghan pulled on some rubber gloves.

"Everything was already in motion. Because the baby's head was already out, I really didn't have to do much. The arms and shoulders came out next and then I just followed the woman's lead; I told her to push when she felt ready," he told Patch.

Less than a minute later, a baby girl was born in the backseat at police headquarters. Her older brother looked on. The couple, Hazlet residents, later explained to Geoghan: They left for the hospital as soon as the woman felt contractions coming on. It was just that nobody expected this little girl to come so quickly.

"During delivery, the dad was on the other side of the car, talking to his wife. I thought she was amazingly calm and well composed for the situation," said the police officer. "I was basically there to catch the baby. I could see when the baby came out she was breathing and I told everyone, 'She's breathing.' Then it felt like an eternity, but she opened her eyes and started crying. We all felt so relieved."

Geoghan is a father himself, so he's seen the miracle of birth before. But never quite like this.

By this time, nearly 10 Hazlet police officers had gathered in the parking lot to watch the unexpected turn of events. Paramedics showed up, as did the couple's obstetrician. Sgt. Geoghan didn't even get to cut the cord. Mom and baby were whisked away to Riverview Medical Center, where last Patch heard they were doing fine and were both healthy. But not, of course, before Dad, who was still "a little shook up," walked through the parking lot, hugging and shaking hands with all the police officers.

"After fifteen years on the force, you never know what you'll see," said Geoghan. "It was a great day."