Officer delivers roadside action

Labour Day came early for one mother who unexpectedly gave birth on the roadside.

The mother went into labour on Friday morning in the Taranaki suburb of Inglewood.

Constable Clinton Parker was busy setting up for a police checkpoint when he saw a man behaving in a manner he considered suspicious.

The man approached Parker and said his wife was in labour and wouldn’t make it to the hospital.

Parker ‘‘raced into action’’ to aid the mother, who was giving birth on the roadside.

Lifting the child on to the mother, Parker had to unwrap the umbilical cord from around the baby’s neck.

‘‘It all happened so quickly,’’ he said.

It was a dramatic, but successful, roadside birth for both mother and baby.

The ambulance arrived shortly after.

‘‘The mother did extremely well, especially under the circumstances,’’ Parker said.

‘‘In 10 years on the job I haven’t been in a situation like this before.’’

After the unexpected delivery, Parker returned to patrolling the Taranaki highways.

‘‘This is what makes the job so exciting and rewarding, when you’re part of something like this.’’

Parker stressed that he couldn’t take credit for the dramatic birth.

‘‘It was all the mother, I just ended up being in the right place at the right time.’’ - Fairfax NZ