A Special Delivery on the Pennsylvania Turnpike

At 3:00 a.m. on Father’s Day, just one day after she was sent home from her initial hospital visit because she wasn’t ready to deliver, 32-year-old Andrenna Reid began having strong contractions. With her husband at work, she got in the car with her one-year-old son, planning to drop him at a grandparent’s house before heading back to the hospital via the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Even with her exit in sight, Andrenna knew she wouldn’t make it. She pulled over, placing an emergency call to report that she had pulled to the side of the road and was having a baby. She later told 6ABC Action News: “I’m on the side of the road. I’m on the Turnpike. I’m having a baby. The 911 operator told me, ‘Pull your seat back, and just...’ Those are the last words I heard.” Andrenna’s newborn son, Santana, didn’t wait long to make his appearance.

Alone on the dark highway, Andrenna recalls a knock at the car door—a guardian angel in the guise of a tow truck driver. As she told 6ABC, “He says, ‘Do you need help, is everything ok?’ I was like, ‘Oh no, I just had a baby.’”

Thanks to the Good Samaritan’s quick action, state troopers and EMT’s soon arrived, taking the family to the nearest hospital, Jefferson Abington Hospital. Despite the unexpected delivery, Andrenna knew once she got to Abington that she was in good hands.

Andrenna will forever be grateful for every doctor, nurse and hospital staff member that she encountered during her stay, and to the maintenance worker Robert Stenger who helped get her the help that she needed.

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