Norwell, Hanover emergency responders deliver baby boy between exit 12 and 13

A local family welcomed a baby boy into the world on Monday, May 2, but the couple had to call for backup when they realized they weren’t going to make it to the hospital before their baby came.

At about 9:40 p.m the couple pulled their car into the breakdown lane on Route 3 north between exit 12 and 13 while on their way to the hospital and called State Troopers.

A Norwell fire engine and Hanover ambulance responded to the scene to help deliver the baby in the couple’s car before transporting the mom and baby to the South Shore Hospital.

Hanover paramedic and firefighter John Earle said the baby was born five minutes after they arrived on scene, and both the mom and the baby were healthy and happy when they transported them. He said the baby's due date was the next day, May 3.

“It was wonderful to see the joy on the mother’s face, and the father’s too,” Earle said. “He was nervous and happy. It was their second child so they’d been through this before, but not like this.”

Norwell Fire Captain Dave Kean, who responded to the call in a fire engine, said while these types of calls aren’t common, they are handed like every other medical call.

“You have your training to provide care, and sometimes the outcome is really good and sometimes it’s really bad, but this is one of the times the outcome was really good,” Kean said.

Earle agreed, adding that it was important to stay calm during the situation.

“It was definitely nerve-wracking,” he said.

Earle said even though the Hanover Fire Department responded to a similar call in February, when Nick and Maria Condon called the department to help them deliver their baby at their Birch Drive home in Hanover when Maria suddenly went into labor, it’s not often that a baby is born on the highway.

Earle said he hopes the family comes to visit the Hanover department so they can meet the new baby, after everything settles down.

Follow Kaila Braley on Twitter @MarinerKaila.