Officer delivers baby on bathroom floor

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) -- A New Bedford mother is thankful that she and her baby are alive and well tonight after having to give birth on her bathroom floor.

The newborn wasn't breathing until a surprise hero showed up and saved her.

Nativia Jones gave birth to her baby in her home on New Year's Day. The two were able to once again thank their new hero, a New Bedford police officer, when they reunited Thursday at St. Luke's Hospital.

"It was just awesome, it meant so much," Jones said.

Emotions were running high for the 21-year-old, since at one point in time she was certain that she and her newborn baby, Amayiah, would not be alive today.

The mother of three went into labor on her bathroom floor. Her boyfriend quickly called paramedics, but it was Officer Nathan Monteiro that arrived on scene first.

"He helped me through that, and I'm never going to forget that at all," added Jones.

After 11 years on the force, this was a first for Monteiro.

"I just wanted to do the best that I can do, and hopefully things just work out the best for the mother and the child," he said.

"I realized, as he's unwrapping the umbilical cord, that he has a badge on, like he's not a paramedic. This is a police officer and he's literally holding my baby, doing what he's got to do," said Jones.

The baby was delivered, but it wasn't breathing.

"I knew I had to clear its airway, and I just did the best that I could and I stuck my finger in the baby's mouth and pulled out phlegm, and the baby gasped and then cried," Monteiro said.

"I was hoping that she was going to cry, I prayed for it," added Jones. "I begged for it, and having him here, I felt like my angel was there."

As a result of Monteiro's brave actions, Jones gave her baby daughter the middle name Angel. The two are now recovering at home.

As for Officer Monteiro, he now has a new nickname at the police station - "doctor".