Special delivery: Police assist with birth of baby girl outside the Lincoln Tunnel
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Port Authority police sprang into action at the Lincoln Tunnel Monday morning to help deliver a baby who just wouldn't wait during rush hour.
A Jersey City woman, Sathyea Priyea Senthil, was due to give birth May 10th but started having contractions at about 6 a.m.
She and her husband called their doctor, who told them to head to the hospital in New York City.
The couple got into an Uber car, but as they approached the Lincoln Tunnel at about 7:30 a.m., the baby began coming out.
"I felt the baby head is already out and I was telling him the baby coming out and he said, 'you're ok, you're ok,'" the mother said.
The Uber driver pulled over in a safety area just before the toll booth and flagged down three Port Authority police officers, who helped deliver a six pound, three ounce girl.
"I immediately got a blanket, any equipment that we needed in order to make sure this baby was safe," said Port Authority Police Officer Dana Fuller.
"They were in a really good spot," said Port Authority Police Officer Catherine Conant. "If you're going to deliver a baby at the Lincoln Tunnel, that's where you should deliver a baby."
The officers were the first to visit the mom and the infant, Sailakshmi Karthik, in the hospital.
"It's been nerve racking day, exciting day and we won't forget this day," said the father, Karthik Lakshmanan.
This is the couple's second child. They have an 8-year-old daughter.
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