'Pull over!' Highway delivery for Sask. baby boy
'That baby was comin' so fast': Paramedic delivers baby in back of ambulance near Rosthern, Sask.
When paramedic Karisa Parker realized she was about to help deliver a baby in the back of an ambulance, she didn't have long to let the idea sink in.
Parker and another paramedic from Wakaw & District EMS were called to a community near Wakaw, Sask. on Friday to assist a pregnant woman with abdominal pains.
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They helped the woman into the ambulance and hit the road en route to the hospital, but Parker said the baby had other plans.
"That baby was comin' so fast," she said.
"We were on the way and [the mother] was just like, 'I feel like I've got to push'.
"So I just had a peek and I was like, 'Oh, OK, yep, baby's coming right now.'"
No time to get to hospital
Parker, who has been a paramedic for two years, said she was nervous about delivering a baby for the first time.
The ambulance was approaching Rosthern, about 65 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, when Parker realized they were not going to make it to the hospital in time.
"I told my partner, I'm like, 'Please pull over!' More like yelled [it]," she said.
"And then he pulled over and jumped in the back and the baby was already delivered."
The healthy baby boy was born in the ambulance along Highway 312 at 7:42 p.m. CST.
Sudden deliveries rare: paramedic
Parker was able to visit the mother and newborn at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon after dropping off another patient.
"We just went in, got her some flowers, said hi, and she seemed to be doing good and nice and relaxed and everything," she said.
Parker said it is quite rare for babies to arrive so suddenly, and before their mothers are able to be transported to hospital.
Although she said it was a stressful experience delivering a baby for the first time, she expects she will be more comfortable next time around.