Baby Born On Rt. 35 In Middletown Friday

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Yet another Middletown baby that just couldn't wait! A baby boy was born on the side of Rt. 35 early Friday morning, and was delivered by Lincroft First Aid. The baby was born a little after 4 a.m. inside a Lincroft First Aid ambulance as the ambulance was turning onto Rt. 35 from Laurel Avenue.

Lincroft First Aid got the call at about 4:04 a.m. today: A woman in the area was in labor, and the dispatcher said it was an imminent birth. The team was directed to a home on Ironwood Court, a condo community off South Laurel Avenue. This was the woman's second child.

"We got there and yes, she was close," said James Kelly, 34, the first lieutenant with the all-volunteer squad. "She was in a lot of pain and she was nervous. Contractions were about one to two minutes apart. I asked Barbara Lucyk, an EMT with Fairview First Aid, to check if the baby was crowning. He wasn't crowning yet so we decided to try and make it to Riverview."

They helped the mom down from the second floor and into the ambulance. Her husband followed them in his car, driving a grandmother. But as soon as they turned onto Highway 35, the woman said she needed to push.

"She grabbed onto my arm and I could hear it in her voice. This baby was coming," said Kelly. "I said, 'Pull over, let's do this right here.'"

About three to four more pushes, and just seconds later, a healthy baby boy was born, right there at the intersection of Rt. 35 and South Laurel. Kelly caught him.

"There wasn't much blood, but a lot of amniotic fluid. All ambulances in New Jersey have an OB kit. We suctioned the baby's mouth and nose with a bulb syringe and when we heard him cry, we all felt so good," he said. "I cut the cord with the sterile scissors and gave him to the mom. She was crying; we were all just so relieved the baby was crying."

The woman was still in pain, so Kelly held the baby, wrapped in blankets, as driver Brian McKittrick drove them to Riverview. When they got there, Kelly handed the baby to the dad, who promptly started crying.

"He really thanked us, shaking all our hands," he said. Mother and baby were taken inside, and, as of Friday evening, they remain in good health and are comfortably resting.

In training for his day job as a paramedic, Kelly had seen other EMTs deliver babies. But this was his first.

"They call it the miracle of birth, and it really is. This was definitely a life experience I will never forget," he said. "But this was a team effort. You train for this and then, in the moment, at first it's so nerve wracking, but then the training kicks in and you know what to do."

The other EMT present was Chris Lombardi 27, of Lincroft First Aid. In January, Middletown Township police officers delivered a baby in the parking lot of the Comfort Inn on Rt. 35; Kristen and Baby Axl Erikson are doing fine.

Middletown Police Deliver Baby in Parking Lot