Doula stuck in traffic helps deliver baby on the side of the road

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) - In Northern California, a baby girl was born on the side of the road in heavy traffic.

The delivery took place at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and a doula happened to be at the right place at the right time.

“It was really cool,” Katie Higgins said.

It was like a scene out of a movie, and Higgins was there for it all.

“We talked together and, you know, helped her through the pushing. And the baby was born,” she said.

In a stroke of luck, Higgins trained as a doula 13 years ago, but Saturday she was just headed to her third-grader’s soccer game.

“Traffic was just completely stopped. Like cars were turned off,” she said.

Then someone came through the backed-up traffic, looking for a doctor.

“He was like, someone’s in labor. And my wife looked at me with big eyes and was like, you can do this. Go help,” Higgins said.

A few cars over on Crossover Drive near MLK Jr., parents Nate and Karollyn were trying to reach the hospital.

But their baby Cielle Ray wasn’t waiting.

So, they pulled over and called 911.

“You’re looking for the patient that’s in a gray Honda Civic coupe. They’re pulled over in the dirt path with hazard lights on,” dispatch said.

But help was stuck too, and the responding paramedics had to leave their ambulance blocks away.

“Once the ambulance arrived on foot, because they couldn’t get through,” Higgins said.

That’s what worries neighbors.

“Now that’s actually pretty scary and unfortunate because you would always want to think that there’s a path to get to any hospital in this neighborhood,” one resident, Orie Kalu, said.

Crossover Drive is one of only two routes through Golden Gate Park and is typically very slow, especially on the weekends.

“This also speaks to a lot of the traffic congestion issues that we have to face,” Supervisor Alan Wong said.

Wong said he’s open to looking at traffic changes near the park.

City traffic crews were reportedly doing maintenance at the intersection Monday.

“I want to make sure that we’re continuing to look at opportunities to reduce congestion and ensure that people are able to get to where they need to go,” Wong said.

But even when traffic stops, the city and its people don’t.

“It was the best of San Francisco,” Higgins said.

Higgins and several other women also jumped in to help, including one who happened to have a box of gloves.

The mother and the baby are both healthy.