Woman Delivers Baby Boy On St. Paul Bus Route
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (WCCO) -- Looking down at her feet, Jane Mulcahy knows her shoes look a little different than they did on Tuesday morning.
"She asked if anyone had a string or a shoelace, I guess for the umbilical cord," Mulcahy said.
A trip home from seeing a movie at Rosedale Center transformed a bus into a birthing center for this high school senior after a woman went into labor right in the middle of the 87 route from Rosedale to Highland Park on Tuesday afternoon.
"Suddenly she says 'The baby is coming!'… I didn't think she really meant that," said Mulcahy.
But 29-year-old Michelle Agyei did mean it.
She had just picked up some food and was making her way home when the contractions began.
"I was feeling this pain. It was really painful, but I didn't want anybody to know because there was a lot of people on the bus," said Agyei.
When the bus reached St. Paul, her water broke and just a few moments later, a very special delivery.
"She had been having contractions maybe two minutes, and then within 30 seconds, the baby was born. It was incredibly fast," said Mulcahy.
"My baby just popped out and I said 'Something is coming!'" said Agyei.
Baby boy Andrew made his surprise debut, weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces.
He and his mom are now resting comfortably at Saint John's Hospital in Maplewood with hearts full of gratitude for that bus full of strangers.
"I thank them for what they did for me yesterday. I really thank them," said Agyei.
The bus route ended up being delayed about an hour, but passengers had quite the story to tell when they got home.
Schmitty and Sons, the company that operates that bus line, issued WCCO-TV the following statement:
"On behalf of Schmitty & Sons, we want to extend congratulations to the mother and family. We would also like to thank the passengers that were on-board the bus for helping as well as the driver, dispatch team and the first responders. We are thankful for the positive outcome and wish the best to mom and baby."
