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SALT LAKE CITY — A mother, whose baby was due Friday, delivered three days early on the side of the freeway with dispatchers listening in when the father was too occupied with the task at hand to talk.
About 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a man called 911 after his wife went into labor. The two were driving on I-215 East near 4500 South.
But before any medical personnel could arrive, the baby was born. The infant's first cries were recorded by emergency dispatchers.
On the 911 recording, a man can be heard telling dispatchers that they had just pulled over to the side of the road and his 22-year-old wife was in labor. Moments later, the mother is heard screaming and the man tells the dispatcher, "The head just broke out. I gotta go."
The man apparently put the cell phone down and did not talk to dispatchers again. But the phone line was left open and dispatchers could hear the sounds of the mother screaming, the newborn crying and other vehicles driving past in the background on the freeway.
Most of the audio between the man and woman is muffled. At one point she can be heard telling the man there is a blanket in the back of the car. She also sounds like she is talking to the baby in an effort to comfort the newborn.
The mother and baby boy are doing fine, recovering from their ordeal, said Intermountain Medical Center spokesman Jess Gomez. The couple have requested a break from further media requests, he added.
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