'Dead' baby delivered on Toronto street actually alive
TORONTO - A young mother gave birth on a North York street in the bitter cold early Sunday only to find out her baby girl was dead.
But two hours later, the tragic story had a happy ending as the woman learned her newborn was actually alive.
Toronto Police say the new mom, 20, was walking to the hospital with her mother around 6 a.m. when she suddenly went into labour near Finch Ave. W. and York Gate Blvd., just west of Jane St.
“The mom wasn’t feeling well, so her mother decided they should go to the hospital,” Const. Wendy Drummond said Monday. “On the way, she ended up giving birth on the street.”
It was a frigid -10C at the time, much colder with the windchill factored in.
Toronto EMS responded to the scene and rushed the baby to nearby Humber River Regional Hospital.
“Doctors worked on her but the baby pronounced dead soon after,” Drummond said.
Two police officers were assigned the task of guarding the newborn’s body until the coroner arrived to pick up the infant.
“Any time there’s a death of a child involved, those are the worst calls officers have to do,” Drummond said.
But this is one story the two officers will never forget.
Around 8 a.m., two hours after the mom gave birth on the street, one of the cops realized the baby wasn’t dead after all.
“The two officers were in a room with the baby,” Drummond explained. “And there was a sheet covering the child.”
“One of the officers noticed the sheet move,” she said, adding the officers subsequently checked the baby and detected a pulse.
The child is now in stable condition. The mother also remains in hospital but is expected to be OK as well.
“This is absolutely a very rare thing,” Drummond said. “These officers will likely never experience something like this again in their careers.”
Neither the officers nor the new mother are talking to the media.
TORONTO - A young mother gave birth on a North York street in the bitter cold early Sunday only to find out her baby girl was dead.
But two hours later, the tragic story had a happy ending as the woman learned her newborn was actually alive.
Toronto Police say the new mom, 20, was walking to the hospital with her mother around 6 a.m. when she suddenly went into labour near Finch Ave. W. and York Gate Blvd., just west of Jane St.
“The mom wasn’t feeling well, so her mother decided they should go to the hospital,” Const. Wendy Drummond said Monday. “On the way, she ended up giving birth on the street.”
It was a frigid -10C at the time, much colder with the windchill factored in.
Toronto EMS responded to the scene and rushed the baby to nearby Humber River Regional Hospital.
“Doctors worked on her but the baby pronounced dead soon after,” Drummond said.
Two police officers were assigned the task of guarding the newborn’s body until the coroner arrived to pick up the infant.
“Any time there’s a death of a child involved, those are the worst calls officers have to do,” Drummond said.
But this is one story the two officers will never forget.
Around 8 a.m., two hours after the mom gave birth on the street, one of the cops realized the baby wasn’t dead after all.
“The two officers were in a room with the baby,” Drummond explained. “And there was a sheet covering the child.”
“One of the officers noticed the sheet move,” she said, adding the officers subsequently checked the baby and detected a pulse.
The child is now in stable condition. The mother also remains in hospital but is expected to be OK as well.
“This is absolutely a very rare thing,” Drummond said. “These officers will likely never experience something like this again in their careers.”
Neither the officers nor the new mother are talking to the media.
