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Woman gives birth to baby on the side of the road

Posted at 6:11 PM, Dec 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-05 18:11:57-05

NEWAYGO COUNTY, Mich. -- State Trooper Owen McGuigan says delivering a baby is not something you're taught in the police academy, but that didn't stop one from coming into the world on his watch.

A medical emergency call came in Sunday morning around 11 a.m. A Spanish-speaking mother called 911 in distress and in labor. Unable to comprehend the call, Trooper McGuigan and his intern Emily Paulsen arrived to find the mother having contractions in the passenger side of her Jeep off M-82.

"She said she was having her baby," said Paulsen. "I kind of looked at her and said, 'I wasn't trained for this."

Without missing a beat, Trooper McGuigan walked the woman through her delivery just moments before Sunday's snow storm began to move in. It's an experience McGuigan says was a first in his 22 years on the force.

"It was a life-changing experience," said McGuigan. Have faith in what to do, trust yourself, and trust the people you're working with."

MSP says the mother and baby girl are doing just fine.

"It was her 8th child, so it was a walk in the park for her but a little bit scary for us," said Paulsen.