Dr. Javier Soto, an OB-GYN, was on his way to Rockledge Regional Medical Center to deliver a baby when he stopped for a gas fill-up at the Speedway in Merritt Island because his vehicle fuel light was flashing. Dressed in blue hospital scrubs, Soto was pumping gas when a frantic man approached him, asking if he was a medical professional.
Soto said “yes,” unsure of what emergency he was about to face.
In the back seat of a nearby pickup truck a pregnant woman was in labor. Soto says at that moment the crown of the baby’s head was already visible. Making a quick decision to deliver the baby instead of waiting for an ambulance, the doctor leapt into action.
He sent the father-to-be into the station for scissors and gloves, and instructed a second man to hand over the shoe laces from his sneakers. Slipping on the food preparation gloves, Dr. Soto told the woman to push on the next contraction. In a surprisingly quick delivery, with the second push her baby boy was born.
Soto dried and massaged the baby until he cried, then he used the shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord before snipping it. The entire delivery took no more than four minutes.
Soto, 44, is an OB-GYN who has been in practice for 13 years.
Besides being in the right place at the right time to help this woman, there’s an additional twist to the story. The new mother was actually a former patient of Dr. Soto. She had visited for a check-up before switching clinics due to an insurance issue.
Dt. Soto is happy everything came out fine, and the new parents are understandably grateful.
