Woman gives birth in Torrance bookstore

A customer gave birth to a baby boy at her local Barnes & Noble bookstore in Torrance on Friday, officials said.

“I don’t know if it happened near the classics or the nonfiction section – but it was definitely smack dab in the store lobby,” said Capt. Steve Deuel of the Torrance Fire Department.

“This story begins with a call we got a little after 7:30 p.m. of a woman in labor in the bookstore,” Deuel said. “It was a little bit chaotic when we arrived because a lot of the customers didn’t know what was happening. But mom knew because it was not her first child.”

“Upon examination, paramedics decided the delivery was imminent,” he said. “Our firefighters and paramedics are trained to do emergency deliveries in the field so everything went as planned -- with the exception of her not being in the hospital.”

A manager of the store would only say, “It’s a cool little story but out of respect for the privacy of the person who was here, we have no comment.”

The mother and son were taken to a nearby local hospital and are in good health, Deuel said.

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louis.sahagun@latimes.com