COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — A Maryland State Police trooper has helped to deliver a baby on the side of a busy highway.
Trooper Esai Cunningham was responding to a reported collision on the outer loop of the Capital Beltway at the I-95 split in College Park on Sunday around 11 p.m. While on the scene, another vehicle pulled up and told the trooper that a 21-year-old woman was in active labor.
“I immediately grabbed my gloves from my car,” Cunningham told WTOP.
Cunningham, 22, only graduated from the Maryland State Police Academy last February. “We do receive some training … for this situation,” he said. “I just never really thought that it would happen so soon.”
Cunningham called for EMS assistance. But before medical crews could arrive, Cunningham helped the woman deliver a baby boy.
He saw the baby’s head, and said his reaction was “just cradle the baby’s head so it didn’t just fall out on to the floor.” Then he decided, “I had the female passenger hold the baby’s head just because I thought the new mother would feel more comfortable.”
A state police release says the mother and her newborn were taken to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. Both are doing well.
“I was just happy to help deliver the baby,” Cunningham said.
WTOP’s Kristi King and Dick Uliano contributed to this report.
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