Baby makes an unscheduled stop as mom gives birth on Twin Cities bus
Passengers helped a woman who suddenly went into labor and gave birth on the Route 87 bus that runs from Rosedale Transit Center to St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood.
Michelle Agyei had worked a nine-hour shift at a factory in St. Paul and was heading home to a hotel, where she was staying while her family waited for an apartment to open up. An immigrant from Ghana, Agyei was 36 weeks pregnant, and she discovered she was on the wrong bus and she wasn't feeling very well.
"So when we were going, I was having a serious pain. A lot of people were on the bus, so I didn't want to shout or to talk," she said.
Eventually, another passenger turned to her.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
"He was looking at my face. He knew something was wrong with me. So he asked me, 'Ma'am are you OK?' And I said, 'No, I'm not OK.' Then I started shouting, and my water just broke," Agyei said.
St. Paul high school student Jane Mulcahy was on the bus, a few seats away. She watched as another passenger tried to calm Agyei, while a male passenger prepared to catch the baby.
The bus driver pulled over and called 911 as the other passengers helped Agyei to the floor.
Another passenger consulting by phone with her mother, a midwife, asked around for a string or a shoelace, and Mulcahy handed one over.
"And then suddenly within like 30 seconds, this baby was born. It was crazy fast," Mulcahy said.
St. Paul paramedics arrived moments later and boarded the bus. They checked out Agyei and her newborn boy before taking them to St. John's Hospital in Maplewood.
The bus is a contract route, operated by Lakeville-based Schmitty & Sons Bus Company. Kathryn Forbord, director of sales and business operations, said the midtrip delivery was "certainly a first." She said she's grateful the passengers were so helpful.
Agyei called the boy's father to tell him the good, and hard-to-believe, news.
"The nurse had to tell him it's true. Then he came from work and he was happy," Agyei said.
Agyei has another boy, age 3, and says her new baby is doing OK and is expected to go home soon. His name is Andre.