KEY POINTS

  • The woman was on a 3-hour drive back home when her water broke 
  • The trooper who helped deliver the baby is a former EMT
  • Sharie Madrid gave birth to a healthy boy in the front seat of her car

A woman went into labor in chock-a-block traffic along Interstate-40 in Tennessee's Dickson County and delivered a healthy baby by the side of the road with the help of a trooper.

Sharie Madrid, a Staff Seargent in the Tennessee Army National Guard, was in Smyrna for training when her water broke. It was a three-hour drive back home to Desoto County, Mississippi, for Madrid when she got stuck in traffic due to a crash on the highway on Dec. 7, reports WREG.

The young woman soon began experiencing contractions. “I knew it was happening right then, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it,” she said.

Around the same time, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Aaron Ranker was headed back to his post when he heard sirens, according to WSMW.

“I called the Dickson dispatch and asked them what was going on. That’s when they informed me that there was a lady on the side of the road that was in labor,” Ranker said. Since the trooper was a former EMT, he knew the woman needed immediate medical aid, so he rushed to where she was. When he arrived, he was sure they didn't have much time before the baby arrived.

“She was what we call crowning. You could see the top of the head in the birth canal,” Ranker said. “I knew at that point birth was going to happen whether we wanted to or not.”

"With my medical experience I did realize, it was imminent, and there was no waiting for the ambulance, and was able to walk her through the birth, and was able to birth a beautiful baby boy," he added, News Channel 5 reported.

pregnant-woman
A teenager is suing health officials in South Africa after she gave birth to her baby's decapitated head while the body remained in her for 24 hours. In this representational picture, a pregnant woman holds her stomach in Sydney, June 7, 2006. Getty Images/Ian Waldie

The trooper used a blanket and proceeded to help the woman deliver her healthy baby boy in the front seat of a car within five minutes. “I had to rub his back a little bit to get him to initially cry, and when I heard that scream, I knew we were going to be okay,” Ranker said, adding: “It was quite an experience.”

The mother and her newborn were then taken to a nearby hospital. The new mom said that she is grateful for Ranker and would not have known what to do without him. “I would not have known what to do. I was really thankful for him being there,” said Madrid.

The trooper then revealed that he also had to calm everyone around, while helping Madrid. “My biggest thing was trying to calm everyone down. Even the other officers there and everyone was a little deer in the headlights. That’s something that happens maybe once in a lifetime.”

Ranker has helped deliver two babies before, but he never thought something like this would happen. “I figured at some point my medical background would help on some calls, but as far as delivering a baby on the side of the interstate, never in a million years,” he said.

Since the baby came three weeks earlier than expected, Madrid and her husband, James, are yet to decide on a name. But the Madrids are looking forward to going home with their little one. "Very excited, very happy," the husband said. This is the couple's second child together.

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