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It’s a girl!
A 25-year-old woman gave birth to a daughter on a New York City subway train as it ran through Manhattan on Wednesday morning, say officials.
The new mom was riding on the southbound W train White Hall line for approximately 25 minutes before she went into labor at 34th Street — Herald Square, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Witnesses said the woman frantically alerted the rest of her fellow travelers, who then told the train conductor. A few passengers helped her deliver her baby on the floor of the train car while the vehicle was stopped at Herald Square just outside Macy’s on 6th Avenue of Americas.
Another witness told Pix11 that a passenger used their pocket knife to clip the baby girl’s umbilical cord.
“This is another example of New Yorkers coming together to help each other, assisted by caring transit workers and other responders, reflecting the best of the subway community and this city,” Demetrius Crichlow, President of NYC Transit, told the outlet.
Crichlow also confirmed the young woman and her baby were transported to the hospital shortly after police and medical responders arrived on the scene. The baby’s name has not yet been revealed.
“We are thrilled that both mother and Baby W are doing well, and look forward to welcoming both of them back aboard for a lifetime of reliable — and hopefully less dramatic — rides,” he said.
This isn’t the first time a mother has given birth on the public transit system. Back in 2012, 24-year-old Wanda Dueno went into labor on a J train near Chambers Street and gave birth to a baby boy.
Before that, in 1993, Vida Boateng was 21 years old when she gave birth to a baby girl on a 3 train at the Wall Street subway station.
Similar events have also taken place outside of the U.S. Back in 2019, a baby girl who was born on a train was offered free rail travel for the first 25 years of her life.
The birth took place on an Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) service from Galway to Dublin Heuston station at around 3.05 p.m.
The baby was delivered by two nurses and a doctor who happened to be onboard after train staff put out a call for medical professionals.
“We are delighted, and grateful to both customers and staff who assisted, that the mother safely gave birth to her baby daughter onboard,” an Iarnród Éireann spokesperson told The Independent at the time.
Train staff were first alerted to the mother’s predicament when Emma Tote, the onboard catering assistant, heard a woman screaming in the bathroom and went to help.
The driver was informed, an ambulance was requested, and passengers with a medical background were asked to make themselves known to staff before the baby was successfully delivered.
“We wish mother and baby well, and respecting her privacy would be delighted to arrange for free travel for her new daughter throughout her childhood and up to age 25.”
“In what must have been a very stressful situation, the response of customers and staff in both assisting and ensuring the privacy of the mother was excellent,” the spokesperson added.
