By KevinMcKenzie
The Commercial Appeal
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When a mother about to deliver a baby boy Sunday night just couldn’t wait for an ambulance, Memphis police officers handled the delivery.
Officer Melanie Medlock not only helped deliver the baby, but she also “instinctively” untangled an umbilical cord that was around the newborn’s neck as he was arriving, according to a media statement released by public information officer Sgt. Karen Rudolph.
At about 10:50 p.m. Sunday, the officers were called to a domestic disturbance at apartments on East Red Oak, between Scott and Tillman and north of Union and Walnut Grove, according to police.
While leaving the scene of the disturbance call, which did not involve the pregnant woman, the officers found the 26-year-old woman lying on the ground near 221 East Red Oak.
Her husband told the officers that his wife was in labor and needed an ambulance, Rudolph said.
The officers attempted to help the mother into her car, then realized the baby was not going to wait for a Memphis Fire Department ambulance to arrive.
Medlock donned gloves for the delivery as another officer held a flashlight on the birth.
As the newborn emerged, Medlock saw that the umbilical cord was around the baby boy’s neck as the mother pushed. The officer, who joined the force in 2002, was able to safely maneuver the baby out of danger from the umbilical cord, according to police.
The boy arrived without injury, police said. Mother and child were doing well and in good condition Monday at Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis, hospital officials said.
Police declined to release the identity of the mother.
Copyright 2011 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.