With the shortage of ambulances due to backlogs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, two officers o the New York Police Department helped a woman give birth inside her aprtment Bronx, Sunday.
The two officers who delivered the baby safely placed the baby girl in the arms of her mother after unwrapping the child's umbilical cord from her neck.
NYPD's 47th Precinct officers Joseph Feger, 29, and Nicholas Torrisi 27, were just in their shift for about an hour when they received a 911 call arounf 12:40 in the morning. They then proceeded to the apartment and respond to the emergency, when they found the 31-year-old mother, who chose to not be identified,, already in labor in the bedroom of her apartment in Wakerfield, Bronx.
According to Torrisi, he and Feger requested an ambulance to the location, however, they weren't able to get an estimated time of arrival due to the shortage in medical resources and backlogs of ambulances brought by the coronavirus crisis. He also added that they were already planning to transport the woman to the hospital by themselves, however, they were short on time.
A Baby Delivered by Cops
Torrisi further added that they noticed that the woman was already going into labor since the contractions weren't very far apart, thus, he and his partner braced themselves on other sides of the woman and assured her that everything was going to be fine.
A friend of the woman who was with her when the officers arrived then informed them that she could already see the head of the baby crowning, which prompted the officers to switch positions and prepared to deliver the baby.
During the delivery, Torrisi said that when the baby's head was coming out, he noticed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck, which he knew was dangerous since it might choke the baby. Thus, he slowly moved the baby to remove the cord from the child's neck and safely deliver the baby.
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Less than 15 minutes upon their arrival at the apartment, the baby was delivered by two cops inside a Bronx apartment.
Both Torrisi and Feger said that it was an extraordinary experience as they have never delivered a baby in their lives, and never expected to do so as police officers.
Torrisi then continued to narrate how he felt something he never felt before after helping the woman bring a new life into the world, as he was holding the baby girl in his hands.
NYPD Commisioner Dermot F. Shea shared the extraordinary incident on Twitter, Sunday morning praising the NYPD Officers for an outstanding job and congratulated the mother of the newborn child.
Early this morning, these @NYPD47Pct police officers responded to a call for a woman in labor. They soon found themselves helping deliver a healthy baby girl at home, & transporting mom & NYC’s newest child to the hospital. Outstanding job by our cops, & congratulations to mom! pic.twitter.com/6UIxwJdUKM — Commissioner Shea (@NYPDShea) March 29, 2020
After the delivery, the police officers then carried the woman and her baby to their police car and brought them to North Central Bronx Hospital, where the mother and her baby named Ariah are to stay until Tuesday.
Coronavirus in New York
The circumstances that promted the police officers to deliver the baby in the apartment was the unavailability of ambulance services brought by COVID-19. As of Monday morning, New York City has reported 33,768 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
The Big Apple currently holds the highest number of cases in the United States which has a total of 164,266 cases.
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