Egg Harbor Twp., NJ, Woman Delivers Baby on Garden State Parkway

A South Jersey couple had a little more excitement than they bargained for last weekend when they got stuck in traffic and ended up having their baby on the center median of the Garden State Parkway.

It was midday on Sunday, Aug 7 when Megan Popp realized she was going into labor, about ten days earlier than expected. When she told her partner Brandon Gervasini the news, he loaded their three children into the family van and they headed for the hospital in Manahawkin.

With the Sunday afternoon exodus of Shore visitors underway, the family didn't go far before getting stuck in traffic at mile marker 33 northbound of the Garden State Parkway, between Somers Point and Northfield.

Brandon pulled the van onto the center median of the Parkway at about 2:45 pm and hoped for the best. Megan told him he had better call 911.

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"Well, hopefully, we are OK, but I'm not sure I am cut out to deliver a baby," Brandon wrote later on social media of his feelings at the time.

After a couple of minutes, Megan's water broke. The 911 operator asked Brandon if he could see the baby's head. Nothing yet.

Within minutes, a State Trooper pulled up and took the three children into the back of the van while Bradon nervously kept a watch for any sign of the baby.

Just in time, help arrived from Egg Harbor Township Emergency Medical Services, as  EMTs Carmen Cruz and Andrew Taylor took over and transferred Megan to the ambulance for her trip to the hospital.

But, just as police had cleared lanes for the ambulance to pull out and off the highway, it became clear that Megan wasn't going anywhere.

She was going to have her baby on the Garden State Parkway.

EMTs Cruz and Taylor went to work in the back of the ambulance, and, at 3:01 pm, Brandon, a very grateful daddy, was called in to cut the cord on the couple's newborn baby girl, 6 lb, 13 oz Madison Gervasini.

After their tumultuous experience of their daughter's birth, Megan and Brandon say they decided to change the baby's middle name to Faith as a testament to the help from a higher power they say got them through a tough time.

The couple also wants to thank the Egg Harbor Township EMTs and the State Police for their help in bringing Madison safely into the world.