Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Emotional’ armed officers deliver unexpected baby girl on north-east roundabout in ‘magical moment’

Baby Katie was born on Murcar roundabout, delivered by armed officers Supplied by Police Scotland.
Baby Katie was born on Murcar roundabout, delivered by armed officers Supplied by Police Scotland.

Aberdeen armed officers have described the “surreal” moment they were called to an unusual job at a north-east roundabout – to deliver a baby on the back seat of a car.

Two officers raced to a Bridge of Don roundabout on Monday morning after an urgent call from the couple who were on their way to hospital after the mum-to-be had gone into labour.

Officers Matthew Pirie and Marcus Di Meola had just clocked on for their Monday morning shift in Aberdeen when they were dispatched to Murcar roundabout following the frantic calls of the soon-to-be-parents.

Initially, the PCs planned to escort the two frantic couple to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, but when baby Katie decided to come earlier than expected the officers had to think fast.

Baby Katie was born on Murcar roundabout, delivered by armed officers. Supplied by Police Scotland.

Just 30-seconds away from the couple in their police car, the officers received an update that the parents had been forced to pull up on the A92 roundabout.

“We pulled up and made a very quick assessment as to what the circumstances were at that point, to which mum was very much in the advanced stages of labour,” PC Di Meola recalls.

“Dad was doing a really good job at the time – extremely calm but no doubt panicking inside.”

‘I stepped in a delivered the baby’

PC Di Meola had to step in and deliver baby Katie when the labour began to progress.

“It came to a stage during the delivery where dad wasn’t confident,” he said. “At which point I stepped in and pretty much delivered the baby.

“From there on it was just a case of giving support and reassurance to both mum and dad.”

All in all, the “magical moment” was over within 15 minutes before officers closed the road briefly at 8.30am to give baby Katie and her parents, who wish to remain anonymous, some privacy.

During this time PC Pirie, 33, and Di Meola, 36, were able to update an eagerly waiting control room on the sex of the baby, saying that this kind of call “doesn’t happen too often.”

‘It is a very magical moment’

After the early morning commotion, PC Di Meola, who delivered baby Katie, said that the delivery was a career highlight to date.

He said: “In hindsight I feel privileged to be part of the experience. I don’t think words can describe the birth of a child, it is a very magical moment.

“But at the time I was very focused, we had a job to do by making sure both mum and baby were okay.

“It is a very special thing and obviously I am delighted that everything turned out well.

“Matt got awfully emotional. It is not what we expected on a Monday morning coming from a weekend off.

PC Marcus Di Meola to the left of the car and PC Matthew Pirie to the right. Supplied by Police Scotland.

“If we are going to talk about career highlights for my career so far, it is definitely something special.”

PC Pirie, who had the job of telling the mum-to-be she was doing a great job, said: “You do get a lump in your throat when you see the dad who was in tears.

“It hadn’t gone to plan as to what they had in their head – the whole situation was so unexpected and with the birth of any child is great.

“To be a part of it is an absolute privilege. It was a great experience overall and ultimately we are just happy that we could help.

Speaking of the unexpected arrival of baby Katie, her proud parents said: “Never did we think while writing a birth plan that a roadside delivery could be an option and we are sure for Marcus and Matthew it was the last job they expected to attend on a Monday morning.

“We are so grateful Marcus and Matthew got there so quickly. It was a huge relief to have other people there for the delivery to keep us calm and reassure us.

“We were delighted that the two of them came to visit us in hospital afterwards to check how we all were and honoured that they gifted Katie one of their Armed Policing Operations badges.”

 

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.