Baby boy delivered at Metro’s L’Enfant Plaza

UPDATE: Friday – 8/2/2013, 5:55pm ET

WASHINGTON – The mother who gave birth on a Metro station platform is expected to be released from the hospital Saturday.

George Washington University Hospital said Friday that Shavonnte Taylor and her baby Amir Mason are doing well. Although Taylor will be going home, Amir is expected to remain in the hospital a few more days.

Amir, who was born premature, remains in the neonatal intensive care unit. Doctors continue to test his breathing, the oxygen levels in his blood and his heart rate, the hospital said.

The baby was also given antibiotics to treat a possible infection.

Taylor is expected to make a statement at the hospital before she goes home, the hospital said.

EARLIER: Friday – 8/2/2013, 10:34am ET

WASHINGTON – There was a surprise delivery at Metro’s L’Enfant Plaza around 10:45 a.m. Thursday when a passenger went into labor on the Green Line train and delivered her baby on the platform.

Shavonnte Taylor, 23, gave birth to Amir Mason, a healthy baby boy weighing in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces. Both mother and boy were taken to George Washington University Hospital and are doing well.

Metro General Manager Richard Sarles later congratulated Taylor with a letter and a gift of $100 in Metro fare on a SmarTrip card. He tweeted a photo:

Autumn Manka, an off-duty emergency medical technician, happened to be riding the same train as Taylor and got off the train with her at L’Enfant Plaza around 10:30 a.m. Manka says she heard screams the moment she got off her train as Taylor starting giving birth.

“I said, ‘Does anybody have any medical training?’ and everyone said ‘No,'” Manka says.

That’s when Manka jumped in to help.

“I think everyone on that whole platform held their breath,” she says.

Manka helped deliver Taylor’s healthy baby boy just 15 minutes later, says Metro spokeswoman Caroline Lukas.

Metro Transit officers rushed in to help, alongside good Samaritans. One gave the shirt off his back to Taylor as she was in labor, Lukas says.

While the birth happened quickly, station manager Saa Alfred says they did what they could to ensure the delivery went smoothly while emergency crews were on the way.

“I heard a commotion downstairs and went down to investigate. Saw she had kneeled over and she was in pain. It looked like she was in labor. I came back and notified our central control that we needed medical assistance,” Alfred says.

Taylor gave birth behind an escalator at the station. Employees marked the area with orange cones after the birth.

“It was within minutes of her getting to the station and onto the platform that the baby was delivered,” Lukas says.

Taylor went into labor two weeks before her due date.

After finding out about the birth at its station, Metro Transit Police tweeted:

“It’s something you’d see in a movie or something, something you’ see on Lifetime,” says Metro passenger Oneily Baez, who is a mother herself.

Trains did not experience any delays.

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