A police officer from West Earl Township, Pennsylvania, recently delivered a baby after being dispatched to a home at 4 a.m. near the 100 block of West Meltzer Road.
Officer Craig Johnson had never delivered a baby before, but a police officer never knows what the day will bring, and this time, the call was for a woman in labor.
“I’ve been a cop for going on five years, and I’ve never delivered a baby,” Officer Craig Johnson told WGAL 8.
The mother, 23-year-old Madison Gadsden, began having contractions early — days before the baby was due. Initially, she thought it was a false alarm.
“I thought it was my Braxton-Hicks, which are the false contractions, until they started to get a little stronger,” Gadsden said.
But it wasn’t.
“That was it, and I said, ‘We’re not going to make it to the hospital,’ so I called 9-1-1,” Terre Lewis, the baby’s great-grandmother, said.
Gadsden was nervous, but Johnson’s presence calmed her.
“When he got here, it did just calm me a lot because I was a little nervous because I know my grandmother’s never delivered a baby,” Gadsden said.
Officer Johnson, a certified emergency medical technician (EMT), supported the baby’s head on the way out and was able to keep his airway open. He then cut the baby’s umbilical cord and wrapped him in a blanket until the ambulance arrived.
“I know that I assisted in bringing this lovely little bundle of joy into the world, and he’s safe and happy, and so is mom,” Johnson said.
Madison and the child were transported to the Lancaster General Health Women and Babies Hospital in stable condition and are recovering just fine, police say.
“WEPD wants to congratulate the Gadsden family on their new addition and hopes for good health and fortune,” the police department said in a statement.
Lewis said Josiah, the baby, was appropriately named.
“His name means fire of God, and he came in like a fire, he truly did, and I just think that he’’ going to impact this world in such an incredible way. I believe that,” she said.
“I can’t wait to tell him the whole story when he gets older,” Gadsden related.
West Earl Township is located in Lancaster County in southern Pennsylvania.
