A Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy helped deliver a baby in the front seat of a car in the parking lot of a car wash Wednesday morning.
A motorist urgently shouted "Baby! Baby!" at Deputy Roger Bertola as he followed the car into a parking lot and soon learned there was a woman in the car in labor, according to a department news release.
The deputy soon learned there was a woman in the car in labor when he saw the woman in distress and heard the father-to-be say "she is having her baby now!"
Deputy Bertola immediately radioed for Los Angeles County firefighters and assured the couple the paramedics were on their way. The baby wasn't will to wait though, and while still encased in its amniotic sac, the baby began to crown.
Bertola gently guided the baby as it was pushed out and the sac broke. He then tapped the baby girl on the back, and helped clear her airway. The baby took a deep breath and started crying around 7:17 a.m.
"At first, I was trying to help the mother get comfortable but she made it very clear she didn't want me to recline the front seat, and I certainly wasn’t about to debate anything with her," the father of three said, adding that once the baby was born, "The parents were so excited and happy. The father was jumping up and down and overjoyed."
Shortly after the arrival of the baby, the firefighters and an ambulance arrived at the scene and transported the mother and newborn to a local hospital where Bertola later visited the family and had another chance to hold the little girl.
