Couple delivers baby on side of Highway 17 near Pembroke, Ont.

Anthony Periard can now claim the title of doctor, deliveryman, and dad.

On Friday morning, Periard and his partner Julia Turpin were driving from Ottawa to the Pembroke Hospital to give birth to their new baby girl. The couple says they recently moved to Ottawa from the valley to be closer to family.

"I was speeding a little to get here on time, and out of nowhere she started getting closer and closer contractions," Periard recalls.

Periard says they were ten minutes away from the Pembroke Hospital on Highway 17 when they ran out of time. The 27-year-old then says he pulled onto the side of the road.

"I didn't know what to do so I phoned 9-1-1 and tried to get someone from the ambulance online," Periard tells CTV News. "And as soon as he picked up the phone the baby was already out and crying in her lap."

"It was terrifying," remembers Turpin, sitting in the passenger seat. "I didn't know what was going to happen. I'm just happy everything turned out good."

With the hard work done, Periard says the emergency operator instructed him to tie a shoelace around the umbilical cord while they waited for help to arrive.

"I reached into the back seat and grabbed a bunch of sweaters to make sure they were warm. I cleaned her all up and we sat on the side of the highway for about 15 minutes waiting for the ambulance to come," says Periard.

"As medics, we're there to support," says Nicholas Leriche, operations commander with the Renfrew County Paramedic Service. "Having a baby is a very natural process; mom will do all the work. Dad being on the phone, calling 9-1-1 was the absolute right thing to do."

The couple says they picked out the name River for their daughter last year. But little did they know how appropriate the name would come to be.

"It just so happened on the way there we had to pull over by the Muskrat River at the bottom of White Water Road and Highway 17. She just decided she wanted to come right beside the river."

With everyone happy and healthy, Periard is looking forward to a less eventful drive back home.

"Just a miracle that it happened the way it did."