The newest resident of Scotch Plains was a brought into the world with the help of local police.
Scotch Plains officers Brian Cheney and James Richie helped deliver a baby after a woman went into labor at home.SCOTCH PLAINS — Two Scotch Plains police officers assisted in a special delivery in the wee hours of Friday morning — the pair helped a town mom give birth to a healthy baby girl when she went into labor at home.
The two officers — Brian Cheney and James Richie — said they were dispatched to a home on Westfield Avenue around 2:45 a.m.
Cheney was specifically assigned because he has helped deliver a total of nine other babies — six during his 22 years on the force, two when he worked as an EMT and the first back in 1982 when a woman in labor came running into a Radio Shack where he was working part-time while in college.
"I've delivered them in the backseat of cars, on couches," he said. "As soon as they say, 'I think I'm having my baby now' they automatically dispatch me!"
Cheney said when the two arrived the woman's water had already broke, and so he started talking to her and asked if it was her first baby.
"When she said it was her second, that automatically made me think 'Uh oh, this is going to go fast,'" Cheney said.
After mom gave out what Cheney described as an "Exorcist scream," he asked if he could check if the baby was crowning.
When he felt the baby's head, he said "Okay, we're doing this here," and got in position.
"At one point her husband comes running in and asks if he should boil water," Cheney said with a laugh. "I said, 'Okay, if it makes you feel better!' But how about if you stand behind me.'"
MORE: Police deliver baby after Fanwood mom goes into labor
It was then that Scotch Plains Rescue Squad members Melissa Snyder-Padulsky, Joan Lozowski and Elizabeth Buckridee arrived on the scene and assisted the officers.
"I was able to slide my hand down the babies back and catch her under her armpit with my ring finger," Cheney said. He said as mom pushed, he was able to pull out the baby girl and turned her over, at which point she "let out a healthy scream."
The entire event, from the moment the officers arrived to the point Cheney had swaddled the newborn baby and handed her over to mom was only 10 minutes, he said.
Richie said Cheney got plenty of pats on the back when the two got back to headquarters.
"Everybody knows he's the baby guy," Richie said. "There's a lot of tough things we have to deal with on the job. It's nice when you get to be a part of something like this, where everyone is happy."
This was Richie's first delivery, though, he said, he's been to plenty of "close calls," during his 15 years as an officer. Both men are Scotch Plains dads themselves. Cheney has six children, and no, he says, he did not delivery any of them himself.
The officers said mom and baby — Vivian Isabel, who weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz. and arrived five weeks early — are doing well.
Last year, police in neighboring Fanwood also helped deliver a baby:
Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.