DISCOVERY BAY — A couple on their way to Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend had to make an unexpected stop across from the Discovery Bay store so the woman could give birth to a baby girl with the assistance of a State Patrol trooper.
“This is definitely a rare occurrence. We are just happy we were nearby to assist,” Trooper Katherine Weatherwax, State Patrol spokesperson, wrote in a Thursday afternoon email.
State Patrol dispatchers received a call at 10:08 p.m. Wednesday that a woman in her 30s was going into labor in a Jeep Wrangler in the Discovery Bay area.
Trooper Simon Hovinghoff arrived two minutes after the call, Weatherwax wrote. The husband was assisting the wife and their midwife arrived shortly thereafter.
The baby girl was delivered at 10:17 p.m. First responders arrived a short time later and took the wife, husband and baby to the hospital, Weatherwax wrote.
Hovinghoff arranged to have their vehicle towed and then followed up at Jefferson Healthcare, Weatherwax wrote, “and reported that the baby and mama were doing well.”
Weatherwax said the State Patrol doesn’t track the number of roadside deliveries that troopers assist with or respond to, but that it was Hovinghoff’s first child.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@sound publishing.com.
