Speeding past a police officer is usually not a good idea, but men whose wives are in labor sometimes take desperate measures.

That’s what happened to Jim Jarman as he and his wife, Sarah, drove on Interstate 94 from their St. Paul home to the Minnesota Birth Center in Minneapolis on Sunday night.

“I had this awkward experience of seeing ahead of me a St. Paul police car and … I was just hoping maybe he was off duty and was not going to care that I was driving way too fast on the way to the birth center because my wife was very, very actively in labor,” Jim Jarman said Tuesday.

But, as Jarman predicted, the squad’s red and blue lights flashed behind him and he pulled over. He explained the situation to Sgt. Kent Cleveland and asked for an escort to the birth center.

Cleveland said he’d help, but Sarah Jarman suddenly told her husband, “We’re not going anywhere, I have to have this baby right now.”

And she did: Ella Noelle Jarman was born Sunday at 11:11 p.m. in the Jarmans’ vehicle on the side of westbound I-94.

“Ella was born in St. Paul less than 100 yards from crossing into Minneapolis (I’ve looked at this on a map about 20 times so far to see that the Mpls city limit is just ahead of where we were stopped, in line with Emerald Street),” Jim Jarman, 39, wrote in an email to thank the officers. “I couldn’t be happier that she’s born a St. Paul girl, assisted by some of our city’s finest public servants.”

Sarah Jarman, 37, was in labor for less than 90 minutes before she had Ella. The baby is the Cathedral Hill couple’s third child: Noah was born in 2013 but passed away at three days old from viral meningitis. Claire is 2 years old.

After Cleveland pulled them over Sunday night, just west of Minnesota 280, he called for an ambulance and additional officers. The officers donned medical gloves in case they needed to deliver the baby before the ambulance arrived.

“I have three kids, so I’ve been through it before, but I was nervous,” said officer Tom Reis. “We were prepared to help as best as we could.”

As it turned out, the Jarmans had been on speakerphone in the vehicle with their doula, someone who supports and encourages a woman during labor and delivery. Erika Torkelson was on the way to the birth center and met them on the side of the highway instead.

Doulas don’t usually deliver babies, but Torkelson arrived just in time to deliver Ella on I-94. The ambulance came and St. Paul fire department paramedics checked out Sarah and Ella Jarman — who were just fine — and they transported them all to the birth center.

“When we were on the side of the road, Sarah said, ‘Well, this clearly wasn’t my birth plan,’ ” Jim Jarman said. “We just kept reassuring her that no matter what the situation was, she was going to do a great job and she was going to deliver that baby perfectly and she did. … Sarah is a superwoman and a supermom. She took a pretty crazy situation and rocked it.” Related Articles St. Paul district reports enrollment drop as pandemic moves school online

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Reis said they had been in a dangerous place on I-94 and he worried about a passing car hitting them. The Jarmans’ car was pulled to the left of the highway, in a place where there wasn’t a full shoulder, and was partially in the left lane, Reis said. They used a squad car to block the left lane and, when the fire truck arrived, it blocked traffic, too.

Reis drove the Jarman’s car to the birth center, so they’d have their car seat to bring Ella home.

“We were so impressed by the service and the professionalism of the officers and firefighters in the face of what was obviously a kind of chaotic situation,” said Jim Jarman, who posted on the Facebook pages of the St. Paul police and fire departments to thank them. “I don’t think they really get enough credit for some of the extraordinary things they do.”