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World

Speedy birth on the side of a highway

by The Canadian Press - Story: 89015
Mar 19, 2013 / 6:13 am

A man in Iowa City who was pulled over for speeding in as he rushed his pregnant wife to the hospital said he was determined to keep going despite the police lights flashing behind him. 

Tyler Rathjen planned to keep going as his wife, Ashley, began giving birth to their son in the passenger seat. But a red light with heavy traffic finally forced him to stop.

"I should not stop, I'm not going to, I'm going to get to the hospital," Tyler Rathjen recalled thinking in an interview with Cedar Rapids TV station KCRG.

The baby's head and arms were already out by the time Iowa City Officer Kevin Wolfe reached the passenger door.

"We were all having a different experience," Wolfe said.

Ashley Rathjen gave birth to her third son, Owen, just blocks from Mercy Iowa City hospital on March 10.

"I kept saying: there's no break (in contractions) there's no break," she said. "He was coming at that time."

Wolfe helped with the final steps of delivery and then escorted the Williamsburg family to the hospital. His dashboard camera captured the episode.

Owen is now home with his parents and two brothers.

The Canadian Press


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