Snowman Delivers Baby (to CAS)

December 24, 2008 permalink

In a scene out of the Keystone Kops, a Windsor woman has delivered two babies in winter snow. The end of the story discloses why the mother could not seek medical help — the family had already lost a child to children's aid and was under watch. The police took the babies to the hospital, and children's aid now has them under its control. Sorry mom.

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National Post

Woman delivers twins on snowy Windsor street

One infant in serious condition, second chid and mom doing well

Doug Schmidt, Windsor Star Published: Wednesday, December 24, 2008

WINDSOR, Ont. - Newborn twins and their mother are under close watch by hospital doctors and the Windsor Essex Children's Aid Society after the woman delivered them in the street just before midnight Tuesday.

"Our officers deal regularly with tragic circumstances - this was extremely unusual ... traumatic," said Windsor police Deputy Chief Jerome Brannagan.

Both babies are recovering, with one listed in serious condition Wednesday, while the other and their mother were in good condition, said Gisele Sullens, a spokeswoman for Windsor Regional Hospital. The premature babies - one weighing four pounds, the other three pounds - are being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Two officers on routine patrol thought they'd stumbled on to a horrible criminal scene when a woman covered in blood and screaming hysterically ran onto the street, waving them down, Brannagan said.

The woman, however, quickly indicated she had just given birth, and she raised her top to show a newborn held tightly to her stomach. Ambulances were still on their way when the woman, 27, gave birth to the second baby while standing and screaming.

Brannagan said the officers then had to also deal with the arrival on the street of an equally frantic and hysterical father of the babies.

Paramedics were on the scene within minutes and the mother and her twins were rushed to hospital in three ambulances.

While it's not unheard of for police to help deliver babies on occasion, Brannagan said he's never heard of a similar case in his 29 years of policing.

The weather at the time was miserable, with the temperature close to freezing and a mix of driving rain and snow.

There was "no indication of any criminal activity," said Brannagan, but the Children's Aid Society was called in to investigate.

"We are looking into it to ensure the safety of the kids and make sure the mother is OK - and that the mother is in a condition to look after the children," said CAS executive director Bill Bevan.

Bevan said the local CAS had already been "aware of this family," and that another child of the woman had previously been taken away from her. The child is with another family member, Bevan said.

He said details of how the woman got to be on the street giving birth to twins are still being probed.

Source: National Post