Lexington police officers help mother deliver baby in car

Lexington police officers probably didn’t expect to deliver a baby when they showed up to work on Monday morning, but the job is unpredictable. The mother, Lendsey Holt, didn’t expect it either.

Around 6 a.m., Holt said she woke up experiencing painful contractions. She got ready to go to the hospital, because she’s given birth three other times and knew the baby was on its way. But the interstate was blocked by a major collision. When she, her fiance, Dalis Brock, and her uncle John Baird tried to cut through Lexington, there was another wreck. The baby wouldn’t wait.

Just after 8 a.m., Sgt. Bill Hobbs and Cpl. Nic Beza responded to a call at North Lake Drive. There was Holt, laying in the back seat of her car in the parking lot of AAMCO transmission on North Lake Drive. She was fully in labor, screaming.

“When I saw the blue lights and heard the sirens, I was relieved,” Holt said.

When Hobbs got in position to help deliver the baby, he said he could “just barely” see the top of the baby’s head. He, along with Beza and Brock, administered medical aid to the mother while EMS was on its way.

In “two big pushes,” the child, Angelina Olivia Brock, was born, just as an ambulance pulled up.

“She was squalling, which was wonderful,” Hobbs said. “Best noise I ever heard.”

Holt, who is set to go home home from Lexington Medical Center on Wednesday, said it was a “cool experience,” but also a level of strength she didn’t know she could muster.

“I never thought I’d be able to birth a child in a car with no medicine,” she said.

Hobbs watched the births of his two sons — who are now teenagers — but he said it was completely different serving as a de facto midwife. After the birth, he was still reeling from what just happened.

“It was a mini adrenaline dump, so I was shaking for about an hour and a half,” he said.

Baby Brock weighed five pounds and twelve ounces, and was 18 inches long at birth. She is healthy and is the latest addition to a crew of three siblings, Hayssen, Taygen and Violet.

For Hobbs, the adulation he’s received for his role delivering the baby is nice, but it’s unnecessary, he said.

“We serve the community and that’s what we’re here for,” he said. “This particular incident isn’t an everyday thing, but this is what we’re out here for.”

This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 3:58 PM.