Police Officer's First Delivery Saves Ocean County Baby's Life

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Police Officer Pete Saker has witnessed a number of births during his 20 years as a police officer.

On Sept. 27, it was his turn to handle the delivery, and help a new Toms River resident arrive safely into the world.

Saker, who works 9 p.m. to 8 a.m., was on patrol when he was dispatched to a call for a young mother who was in labor at home in the wee hours of the morning with her second child, who had decided to make her appearance a few days before her due date.

D'Kota Fabian said she had awakened at 1:30 a.m. because she was in labor. Her first child, 2-1/2-year-old Lily, had been born relatively quickly, and friends and family had warned her to be prepared for a quick labor again.

"People told me 'she's going to come fast,' " said D'Kota, who's 29. "But I pooh-poohed it, because every labor is different."

Her husband, Nick, who's 30, wanted to call 911 to take her to the hospital because he couldn't drive her — they had no one to stay with Lily, who was asleep. D'Kota's mother was on the way, but she lives 90 minutes away.

"I kept saying no, I have hours of labor," she said. But the contractions intensified and D'Kota stopped replying to him, so Nick called for help. "It was a good thing he did," she said.

When Saker arrived, D'Kota was "standing up in the bathroom and she told me her water broke," Saker said. Her contractions were close, and she told him she could feel the baby's head coming.

Saker had Nick grab blankets and towels, and Saker helped D'Kota lie down in the narrow bathroom. Within moments the baby was born, he said.

"It was less than five minutes from the time I arrived that the baby was in my hands," Saker said.

There was a problem, however: The baby's umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.

"She came out and she was blue, like purple blue," D'Kota said. "It was so scary. We kept saying, 'This is not good.' "

Saker calmly reassured her and Nick, she said.

"He kept saying, 'She's OK, she's OK," D'Kota said.

"I was able to get the cord off and get some air in her," Saker said. "It wasn’t too long, maybe 10 seconds, but it felt like forever."

He laid the baby on her side and cleared her airway and within moments she began to cry, a sign that she was breathing.

"When I heard her cry, I was so relieved," D'Kota said.

"It was not the most ideal delivery," Saker said, but the tiny bathroom was filled with joy and relief.

"We were panicking. We wouldn't have been able think what to do," D'Kota said. "Had (Saker) not been here, it could have been a very different day."

The baby, named Mia, was officially born at 2:12 a.m. and weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce, Saker said.

When the EMTs arrived, they took D'Kota and Mia to the hospital to be checked out, with extra tests because the birth happened in an environment that wasn't sterile. They were released two days later to come home, she said.

Lily's bedroom is right next to the bathroom but amazingly she slept through the entire ordeal. "Thank goodness, because it might have scared her to see all the police and EMTs and all the mess in the bathroom," D'Kota said.

On Oct. 18, Saker got to meet up with the family and present Mia and her sister, Lily, with T-shirts commemorating the police officer-assisted birth, complete with Saker's badge number.

Saker said it's something he won't forget.

"I’ve seen them being delivered but this was the first time by myself," said Saker, who grew up in Freehold and worked as a police officer in Massachusetts before joining the Toms River force 14 years ago. "I was updating dispatch, but was on my own."

"It’s kind of an awesome feeling knowing that you did that," he said.

"He was awesome," D'Kota said. "He's a hero."

Note: This article has been updated with comments from D'Kota Fabian.