CBS2 Exclusive: Mom Delivers Baby Herself In Car In Oyster Bay Cove

OYSTER BAY COVE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It was quite a ride for a Long Island couple this week, as they had a do-it-yourself baby delivery in their car.

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported exclusively Thursday, the delivery happened en route to the hospital when the couple had to make an unexpected detour.

And while Estenia Zavala is an experienced mom, what she experienced Wednesday was a first.

"It never happened in my life – I only see on the TV," Zavala said. "But it happened."

A mother of three with her fourth on the way, Zavala thought, what's the rush? She'd experienced two contractions five hours apart.

So and husband Saul Peraza headed out in their ford explorer down Northern Boulevard.

"I was just driving, nice and slow," Peraza said.

But the baby was moving at a different speed.

"She said, 'The baby's coming,'" Peraza said. "I said, 'Are you sure?' She said, 'You know what? I'm going to make it.'"

"I said, 'No I can wait for the hospital,'" said Zavala. "But she no want to wait."

And indeed, midway to North Shore-LIJ Huntington Hospital, they ran out of time.

The worried couple pulled over at a police station in Oyster Bay Cove, but found it closed and under construction. At that point, they realized they had no cell service.

"It's closed, and the baby's coming out," Zavala said.

So they did what womankind has done from time immemorial. When asked who helped bring the baby out, Zavala said, "Nobody -- I get it and I hold it."

She said her husband had gotten nervous and had gone to call police.

"Mom, you know, she do by herself," Peraza said.

And then came music to their ears – and not from the car radio.

"When you come here, the baby born they say has to cry…. I said, 'Cry, cry, cry,'" Zavala said. "It cried. It's fine."

The baby, Angie, weighed in at 7 pounds when she was born on Route 25A in Oyster Bay Cove, Nassau County. Oyster Bay Cove police officers Michael Failla, Ted Mergel and Sean Rourke arrived at the scene three minutes later.

The do-it-yourself birth was a first even for the nurses once they arrived at the hospital.

"She told us all she wasn't nervous, because she watched it all on YouTube and knew exactly what to do," said Huntington Hospital nurse Mary Skaf.

The Glen Cove couple will welcome their baby home on Friday.