NJ mom gives birth to healthy baby boy on highway exit ramp
Cassandra Simeon and Mitchel Lafortune brought their 2-day-old son home Friday morning after his unusual introduction to the world.
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A mother from East Orange gave birth on the side of a New Jersey highway this week to a baby boy.
Cassandra Simeon and Mitchel Lafortune brought their 2-day-old son home Friday morning after his unusual introduction to the world.
"She was in the front. So, I pulled the chair further back for her to give her more space, and then I'm ready," Lafortune said. "I got the back of the head in one hand, and the other hand's just waiting. Within like one minute, 30 seconds, one push, everything exploded in the car."
Simeon told News 12 she started having contractions earlier than expected on Wednesday morning, and she made an urgent call to her husband asking him to take her to the hospital.
"I was waiting at the door," she said.
However, the couple said they weren't in the car for long before they realized the baby was coming fast.
Lafortune said he called 911 as they drove along I-280.
"I reach over, and I felt the top of the head...By that time, we were getting to the Orange exit on 280."
Lafortune said he pulled onto the exit ramp, and his wife had the baby right there.
"You have no choice but to do this," Simeon said she told herself. "I'm just praying, oh my God, I hope everything is OK because we're not doctors."
The couple said paramedics arrived within minutes, and hospital staff were waiting for them at the doors when they arrived.
"It wasn't planned, but I'm thankful God pulled us through, and we're here now," Simeon said.
