Police in Colorado were in for a surprise when they responded to reports of a screaming woman in her front yard.
Officers on the scene quickly realized the woman was in labor and helped deliver her triplets.
The Greeley Police Department recently released information about the incident, which happened in the early hours of April 18. Officers were dispatched to the home at 3:30 a.m.
Once on the scene, Greeley police officers were met with a 24-year-old woman screaming in obvious pain. They noticed her water had broken and that she was in active labor.
Police called emergency medical personnel to the scene and tried to keep the woman comfortable until their arrival. Right after their call for help, officers heard faint crying and realized a baby boy was born but turning blue.
At that time, it was snowing, raining and 32 degrees out, police said.
One officer found bread ties that could be used to tie off the umbilical cord. Another ran to homes next door to collect towels and blankets to keep the family warm, according to police.
A third officer, who stayed with the mother, successfully tied off the umbilical cord and cut it. A fourth took the newly born baby boy to his patrol car to keep him warm.
Once in the patrol car with the baby, the officer noticed the baby had stopped breathing and began to perform infant CPR and chest compressions, police said. Medics took the baby upon their arrival shortly after.
Greeley police said officers helped deliver a second baby. They wrapped up the baby and cut and tied its umbilical cord. It was rushed to medics who had been tending to the first infant.
Both babies were transported to a local hospital. A second ambulance arrived for the mother. She was transported to the hospital and rushed into surgery to deliver the last baby.
Officers said they believed the woman was home alone when she went into labor, but her phone was dead, so she had tried to make it to a neighbor’s house to call 911.
Greeley police said the officers were “ecstatic” to learn that all three babies were doing well while being treated at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.
“We expect our officers to do great work in our community every day, it is engrained in our core values. Even with that lofty expectation, I was amazed at the teamwork, ingenuity, and care our officers provided to this mother and her three new baby boys,” police chief Adam Turk said in a press release. “The success of this call is a success in our officers, our training, and our partnerships with other public safety agencies in the area.”
