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."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.