By Madina Toure
Two police officers from the 107th Precinct helped a mother who went into labor give birth in her car Saturday on the Long Island Expressway and Kissena Boulevard.
At about 4:15 p.m. officers from Highway Unit 3 responded to a report of a woman in labor, but when they arrived on the scene, no one was there, according to the police.
During a canvass of the area, Police Officer Anthony Barton found a blue Subaru on the eastbound L.I.E. service road, at Francis Lewis Boulevard, where he saw a man flailing his arms to get the officers’ attention, police said.
Barton approached the front passenger side of the car and discovered a woman sitting in the upright position, who was in labor with the baby’s head crowning, officials said.
Officer Michael Pyzikiewicz, also assigned to Highway Unit 3 and a paramedic since 1997, directed Barton over the radio to ensure that the mother was lying in a flat position, keep the baby warm and clear the fluids from the mouth once the baby is born.
Barton reclined the seat’s backrest and received the baby with a white baby blanket that was in the car, police said.
He then turned the car’s heat up and began to clear the fluid from the newborn’s mouth before Pyzikiewicz arrived at the scene and took over, police said.
EMS arrived shortly after and handed Pyzikiewicz a bulb syringe, which he used to extract additional fluid and then clamped the umbilical cord while EMS cut it, officials said.
EMS then took the baby into the ambulance, while Barton and Pyzikiewicz helped the mother onto the stretcher and put her into the ambulance along with the father, where they were taken to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, officials added.
Police said the mother and the baby boy were doing well.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
