Dad thanks Orange County dispatcher for help with roadside delivery

The Pennsylvania dad was driving his fiance to the hospital in Middletown April 9 when their baby, Nova Rose, just couldn’t wait.

News 12 Staff

Apr 27, 2022, 12:20 AM

Updated 961 days ago

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Derrick Crowder is one of the few parents who can really say he helped his fiance bring their baby into the world.
The Pennsylvania dad was driving his fiance to the hospital in Middletown April 9 when their baby, Nova Rose, just couldn’t wait. 
“She’s like, ‘babe, the baby is here,’ and I just seen my daughter’s head,” says Derrick Crowder. 
Crowder called 911 and got connected with Orange County Dispatcher Gerard Lewis, who talked him through the entire roadside delivery. 
 “We knew we had to get moving and get people going,” says Gerard Lewis. 
Lewis told Crowder how to untie the umbilical cord and then take care of his daughter and fiance until help could arrive. 
“The umbilical cord was wrapped around my daughter’s neck three times,” says Crowder. “He said this is a critical moment where he needed me to calm down.”  
“I reassured him that it’s common for the baby’s umbilical cord to be wrapped around the neck,” says Lewis. 
The parents plan on meeting Lewis soon and are safe at home with baby Nova Rose and their toddler, Lyndon – thanks to the dispatcher.  
Crowder even jokingly says he’s considering a career change after the birthing experience.
“He got me to the point where I think I could go to medical school to pursue this. I did a wonderful job. I really did," says Crowder. 
The couple tells News 12 next time they’ll consider a home birth if they have another baby.