Baby girl born on side of busy Oceanside road during morning commute

OCEANSIDE —  The hospital was less than a mile and a half away, but this little girl couldn’t wait. She was ready to join the world.

And just after 7:30 a.m. Monday, in a pickup at West Vista Way and Rancho del Oro Drive, she did.

According to Oceanside police, when the baby’s mother went into labor, the baby’s father started driving her to Tri-City Medical Center and called 911, fearing they might not make it.

They didn’t. When baby started to be born, Dad pulled over.

Oceanside police Officers Brett Shields and Chris Marr were first to arrive. Marr ran to the woman. Shields — a former lifeguard and medic — ran for his emergency kit.

Shields said he rounded the door of the white Toyota Tundra and saw the baby seconds after she was born. She was silent and moving slowly. Shields said he helped guide the baby to her mother’s chest, laying her on her mother, skin to skin.

The baby began to cry.

During the ordeal, Shields said, the woman remained calm.

“She was shocked,” the officer said. “Dad was shocked. I was shocked.”

Paramedics arrived, cut the umbilical cord and collected the placenta, Oceanside spokesman Tom Bussey said in a news release. The couple and their daughter were then taken to Tri-City.

“The father and mother are doing fine and are the parents of a healthy baby girl,” Bussey said.

Figueroa writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.