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Teaneck Mom Delivers Baby In Ambulance Outside Hospital

The plan for Bernice and Dwight Horne of Teaneck was to deliver their baby girl at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Bernice Horne of Teaneck holds baby Idan with husband Dwight Horne and mother-in-law Claudette Lindsey.

Bernice Horne of Teaneck holds baby Idan with husband Dwight Horne and mother-in-law Claudette Lindsey.

Photo Credit: Bernice Horne

After all, that's where their first child was born last year.

But baby Idan had other plans in store for her parents.

Just after 7 a.m. Saturday morning, Bernice, 24, began feeling what she thought were Braxton Hicks contractions while laying in bed at home.

Dwight suspected something else might have been happening, as he pointed out his wife's breathing was changing.

That's when Bernice knew -- the baby was coming.

"Everyone was getting ready and trying to pack things up," the Paterson native said Monday. 

"I didn't know if we'd be able to make it to the hospital."

Dwight called an ambulance -- and when members of the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps arrived, they knew immediately that HUMC wasn't going to be an option.

Bernice was having a baby.

They strapped her to the stretcher and loaded her into rig, along with her mother-in-law Claudette Lindsey -- who checked Bernice each time she had a contraction.

Holy Name Medical Center was a five-minute ride from Horne's house -- but it wasn't long enough for baby Idan.

By the time the ambulance pulled up to the hospital, Bernice was ready to deliver. 

"My mother-in-law told EMTs the baby was crowning and they stepped in," Bernice recalled. 

"She told me to push one more time and within two pushes, she was here -- the paramedics got her."

Idan Horne was born at 9:19 a.m. Saturday, March 10, 2018. Mom and baby are resting at home.

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