Moms deliver babies outside strip mall, home, officials say

Two babies made their debut with help of Suffolk County first responders this week, officials said.

On Monday, the St. James Fire Department responded to a call in less than two minutes.

The baby didn’t wait.

Thankfully for the emergency responders, nature saw to it that everything else went well for the mother from Bay Shore and the baby girl born in the front seat of a minivan stopped in St. James.

“We cut the [umbilical] cord, is pretty much what we did,” St. James Fire Chief Edward Springer Jr. said of the impromptu delivery assist behind a Tex-Mex restaurant in a strip mall along North Country Road.

“Mom delivered it. She pretty much did the rest.”

Officials said they could not immediately release the name of the woman, later transported with her new daughter to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown.

Springer said mother and daughter were doing well.

Then Tuesday, Basicilia Chanchavac, 30, was in labor in the back seat of her Nissan, in the driveway of her North Patchogue home, when Fifth Precinct Officer Michael Coyne and North Patchogue firefighters arrived just after 6:30 p.m., police said.

Just in time, because a healthy Jayden Christopher Chanchavac made his entry at 6:48 p.m., police said.

In Monday’s delivery, Springer said he and two of his first responders were still a bit, well . . . incredulous, it seemed.

Springer said he, district manager Chris Gryciuk and first responder Nick Viscusi were at the firehouse — about a half-mile from the restaurant — when a 911 call came in at 5:09 p.m. requesting assistance delivering a baby.

The trio raced down Route 25A to the strip mall, where they found a man and woman in the minivan — the woman cradling the infant in her arms.

“The baby was wrapped in a baby blanket,” Springer said, “but I saw the umbilical cord was still attached. We grabbed the OB kit. One of my guys clamped the cord, I cut it. . . . We got the baby cleaned up, warmed and re-wrapped in a fresh blanket.”

Then, he said, the mom and child were taken by fire department ambulance to the hospital.

Springer said the man, who identified himself as the woman’s cousin, had been trying to drive to St. Catherine’s, but got lost.

“I’m assuming they made a wrong turn,” Springer said, “because they were headed in the wrong direction.”

Springer said fortunately there appeared to be no complications with the birth. In fact, he said, the mother was still in the passenger seat — and seemed very calm, as did the infant.

“She cried once,” Springer said of the newborn, “then was perfectly content.”

Springer said a language barrier — the woman and man spoke Spanish but none of the responders did — made communication difficult.

Nevertheless, Springer, who was involved in the delivery of one other baby about six years ago, said: “You could definitely tell they were thankful.”

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com,ellen.yan@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”