Childbirth is in itself an adventure.
But when it comes at night, in the backseat of a car, with a crew of midwife cops, the event becomes downright extraordinary.
This is what happened to Eliane and Eddy, a couple from Stains (Seine-Saint-Denis), on the night of Thursday to Friday.
Let's say it right away: their baby Eddior is doing very well!
Thursday evening, after spending New Years Eve with his partner and their 2-year-old daughter, the future dad, braving the curfew, takes the road to Saint-Ouen to see family there.
But around 4 o'clock in the morning, it panic: his partner calls him, the birth has suddenly started.
Eddy sets off and crosses Saint-Ouen, La Courneuve then Stains at full speed.
He is quickly chased by a crew of police officers who logically think they are dealing with a driver.
"My wife is giving birth!"
“When I got downstairs from my house, I got out of my car, raising my hands.
The police held me up, they told me: get down.
I replied:
My wife is giving birth!
And, by magic, they believed me.
"
The officials immediately offered the couple to escort him to the Parisian hospital of La Pitié-Salpêtrière (13th century).
Everyone gets back in the car, but barely enough time to walk a few meters Eliane warns: the baby is coming!
“We all looked at each other, we were just boys, we were completely freaked out,” continues Eddy.
A policewoman from another crew finally arrives at the scene
Reinforcement will come from a second crew in which Celia, a 30-year-old peacekeeper is found.
It is she who will support Eliane in the ordeal.
“When the mother told us she had contractions every three minutes, we were scared,” says the policewoman.
But the maternal instinct took over, even though I don't have children!
I went to help the mom.
Fortunately, one of my colleagues is a father, he explained everything to me.
I told mom to breathe well.
Quickly, we began to see the head of the little cabbage.
I picked him up and slapped him on the back, like we see in documentaries.
His mom was great!
"
Little Eddior was born at 5:24 am, but a policeman immediately noticed that his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck.
“I removed it very gently with my hand,” continues Célia.
I was a little shocked.
My colleagues laughed, I had turned quite pale.
»Baby and mother are wrapped, skin to skin, in blankets brought by a neighbor.
“It was really amazing,” Eddy repeats.
"We are used to saving lives but not giving it away"
While the infant and his family are taken care of by the firefighters, the police are in full euphoria: “We are used to saving lives but not giving it away,” smiles Célia, still moved by this extraordinary moment.
Dad called us heroes.
At the moment, that doesn't happen often.
"They were strong," confirms Eddy.
At La Courneuve police station, Eddior now already has a nickname: "the little baby 8-22", named after the crew who helped give him life.