Paramedic delivers roadside baby in Center Moriches

A paramedic delivered a baby in a vehicle parked by the side of the road in Center Moriches on Friday — after a flat tire interrupted the expecting couple’s trip to the hospital, authorities said.

The couple called 911 from Messina Avenue and Black Pine Street at about 11 a.m. and members of the Center Moriches Fire Department rushed to the scene, Assistant Chief Ian Foley said.

“Our first responders arrived and delivered a happy and healthy baby girl,” Foley said.

Paramedic Walter Klieber said that when he arrived in the pouring rain, the mother-to-be told him she was 41 weeks along.

He propped her feet up and helped her into the birthing position while they waited for an ambulance, but the baby wouldn’t wait.

The father pitched in, opening the special birthing kit paramedics carry, Klieber said. He said Suffolk police Officer Michele Speed, a former nurse, also assisted.

The birth happened without a hitch at about 11:20 a.m.

Said Klieber: “I was the one who guided the baby out; the mother had to do all the work.”

Police said the unidentified 39-year-old mother and her baby were taken to Stony Brook University Hospital.

Klieber said Friday’s roadside emergency was only the second time he’s delivered a baby in his 21 years as a paramedic.

“It’s the good part” of the job, he said.