Woman gives birth to daughter on 91 Freeway in Anaheim

A woman gave birth to a baby girl on the shoulder of the 91 Freeway in Anaheim early Saturday morning, minutes before paramedics arrived.

Sandra Vilchez, her husband, and their three children — ages 6, 4 and 3 — had left their home in Riverside County before sunrise Saturday to beat traffic on the way to her mother’s house in Downey, the Orange County Register reported.

Vilchez’s due date was more than a week away, but her contractions began as they drove into Orange County.

As they passed the Kraemer Boulevard exit, she told her husband, “I think she’s coming now,” according to the Register. He steered their black Chevy Tahoe onto the shoulder of the freeway, ran to the passenger side of the car and dialed 911.

The Anaheim Fire Department received the call at 4:18 a.m. Saturday, a dispatch supervisor said. The dispatcher who answered the call coached Vilchez’s husband through the birth.

Baby Savannah was born at 4:21 a.m., weighing 11 pounds and 6 ounces, the Register said.

“It happened pretty quick,” the dispatch supervisor told The Times. “By the time paramedics arrived, the baby was already born.”

Paramedics took Vilchez and her new daughter in an ambulance to Kaiser Permanente Orange County in Anaheim for post-natal care.

Vilchez and her husband could not be reached for comment Sunday.

“It’s more common for births like this to happen at home,” the dispatch supervisor said. “But sometimes, people are in their cars and it just happens.”

Freeway births are rare, but not unheard of, the Anaheim Fire Department said. Their employees are trained every year on how to assist women in labor.

Twitter: @laura_nelson