Fort Lee Woman Delivers Baby In Bathtub After Superstorm Sandy
FORT LEE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Floods and power outages courtesy of Superstorm Sandy wasn't stopping one baby from making her grand entrance into the world.
Stephen Olefson, of Fort lee, said his daughter was born in the bathtub because the family couldn't get out of the house thanks to the storm.
Olefson's wife went into labor around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"She's pushing, screaming and everything," Olefson said. "I'm only one person and it's a lot going on and I need to call EMS, and I need to call this OB/GYN, I need another set of hands."
He ran to the apartment next door to grab his neighbor, who is a physician's assistant, to help with the delivery.
The state police dispatched an ambulance about 20 minutes later, but the baby was not waiting.
"Within five minutes the baby is born literally by candlelight," Olefson said.
The new dad said they had to use some resources around the house to help in the delivery, including Ikea potato chip slips and household scissors to clip and snip the umbilical cord.
By the time first responders arrived, Olefson said his newborn daughter Henley was happy, healthy and wrapped up in blankets.
"They walk in, whip out their cell phones and take pictures of us holding the baby," Olefson said. "In the midst of a storm where all these cops are probably exhausted they come in and they add a lot of humor to it. They were amused. It was really funny, it was nice that they came cause they lightened up the mood."
The medics told Olefson and his neighbors that they did a great job with the delivery.
"They said you delivered this baby perfectly, there's nothing that we need to do," Olefson said.
