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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.