By T.J. Wilham
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
The first time Paul Cordova saw a baby born was Monday night when he delivered one himself. And it all took place in the passenger seat of a Honda Accord.
The 27-year-old rookie Albuquerque firefighter and five other rescue workers responded to a call that a woman was in labor in a car traveling on Interstate 40.
Cordova, who took a course last week that included child birth, performed the delivery with his partner Dominic Archibeque.
Right after the 5-pound, 13-ounce boy was born, Cordova used a tool to suck fluid from the baby’s mouth and even cut the umbilical cord.
“As a firefighter, I have seen a lot of bad stuff and not a lot of good, but this was one of the best things I have ever seen,” he said. “Seeing that baby take his first big breath of life gave me one of the best feelings I have ever had.”
About 6:20 p.m., a woman driving on I-40 called 911 and reported that her sister-in-law, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was in labor.
Dispatchers could hear in the background the woman screaming, moaning and yelling, “Oh my God ... I can’t take it,” according to 911 tapes.
Dispatchers instructed the woman to exit the interstate at Tramway and park while emergency personnel were sent to the scene.
Cordova, a certified emergency medical technician and firefighter assigned to AFD’s Engine 8, was in the firehouse lifting weights when an alarm sounded and a dispatcher’s voice blared, “Imminent delivery Tramway and Central.”
Six firefighters from Engine 8 and Rescue 12 jumped into their trucks and raced to the car parked just off Tramway.
When firefighters arrived, they could hear the 26-year-old woman moaning and screaming in the passenger seat.
A captain looked at Cordova and said, “Rookie, you’re delivering.”
Ten minutes later, moans turned into cries.
“I was kind of nervous at first,” Cordova said. “But my instincts just kicked in.”
Tuesday afternoon, Cordova and other firefighters who helped with the delivery visited the woman at Presbyterian Hospital. They brought flowers and a Teddy bear.
The woman, who is from Edgewood and now the mother of three children, declined to be interviewed.
But Cordova said mom and baby ... and himself are doing just fine.