RALEIGH, NC — Sgt. Brian Maynard zeroed in on the van that sped past him at 85 mph on Highway 64 in Wake County around 11 p.m. Saturday. It was just another person in too big of a hurry to get somewhere, the North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper figured as he flipped on his lights.
Jimmy Baker was in a hurry all right. His wife, Laura, was in labor. The baby was crowning, and there was no way they would make it to the hospital. They needed Maynard’s help.
Maynard took off his trooper’s hat, at least figuratively, and replaced it with a midwife’s cap. The baby wasn’t just crowning. She was practically already born.
“I was telling them the baby was in my pants and he needed to help me,” Laura Baker told television station WRAL.
The 15-year veteran of the state patrol had his orders.
“I said, ‘OK, well, we’re going to do this right here, me and you,’ ” Maynard told television station WTVD of the roadside delivery. He called emergency medical services, grabbed his gloves and a blanket, and helped baby Hayln enter the world.
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He had been trained for the moment, but never assisted in a delivery.
“I did the best I could do,” he told WRAL.
The experience was interesting and scary at the same time, he said.
The father of an 11-year-old told WTVD he feels “lucky and blessed to have been at the right place at the right time.”
And helping a baby enter the world was a nice respite in an often harsh world.
“For so many years, I’ve seen a lot of death,” Maynard told WTVD. “To be a part of the process that actually brings a life into this world is absolutely amazing.”
The baby is healthy and she and her mom are doing well, Jimmy Baker said. And they’ve got a friend for life. Maynard told WTVD he plans to remain in touch with the family.
Here are some photos of the family from WTVD: