Westchester Co. PO delivers baby on BRP

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Way to go !!!

County cop delivers baby on Bronx River Parkway

By SUSAN ELAN

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original Publication: July 23, 2006)

Westchester County police officer Christopher Grasso said being present in the delivery room during the birth of his own two children helped him know how to react when he was called on to deliver a baby on the Bronx River Parkway in Yonkers this weekend.

"It was pretty exciting," Grasso said today from his home on Long Island. "I'd been through it with my two kids so I knew what to expect."

Grasso made the roadside delivery of a baby boy Saturday morning at about 7:45 a.m. The baby's mother Maria Vega and her husband Angel were driving to Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville when they got stuck in a traffic jam caused by an accident.

Grasso, who had reported to the accident scene near the Oak Street exit of the parkway, received a call from headquarters that a car with a woman in labor was approaching.

"The car with the mother, father and their 6-year-old daughter in the back seat pulled up honking," Grasso said.

By the time he had pulled on latex gloves, "the baby was half way out," said Grasso, the father of a 10- and 9-year-old.

Grasso said he helped with the rest of the delivery, then cleaned out the baby's nose and propped up its head. A good cry from the baby assured everyone he was healthy. The ambulance arrived about eight minutes later.

"It was a great feeling to be able to help them out," he said.

After getting cleaned up, Grasso visited the Vega family at the hospital.

"I feel attached to him (the baby) now," he said.

The family couldn't be immediately reached at the hospital today, though the mother is still recovering there with the baby.