An infant hat created by Stony Brook Stitchers was seen in a photo of Newday Article “Mom praises cops who delivered baby”
By SOPHIA CHANG
Newday.com Photo credit: James Carbone
Jancarlos Centeno made a smooth arrival into the world Tuesday thanks to three wise and quick-thinking men from the Suffolk County Police Department.
Anna Punin, 37, was expecting her fifth child with a Friday due date. But contractions started around 11:30 p.m. Monday while she was home in Patchogue.
By the time she and her husband called for an ambulance, the baby was on his way.
“The police showed up first,” Punin said in Spanish through a translator Tuesday.
Enter three officers — Robert Burgos, Kevin Middleton and Frederick Yopp — from the Fifth Precinct on her doorstep at 1:10 a.m. Tuesday.
Punin said at first she was worried the officers wouldn’t know how to help her.
They looked “nervous,” she said with a laugh, and she “wasn’t sure they knew what to do.”
While delivering babies isn’t part of the normal patrol shift, the Suffolk police department said that each officer receives Emergency Medical Service training.
The officers helped Punin onto a couch in the living room and instructed her to breathe and push, as her family gathered around.
Punin’s daughter, Ana, said the officers were completely involved in the delivery.
“The police officers said, ‘The head’s coming out, I can see the head,’ ” said Ana, 13. “It was, like, a crazy moment.”
Jancarlos was born at 1:37 a.m., weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measuring 19.5 inches.
“They did a good job,” Punin said.
Punin’s husband, Segundo Centeno, was impressed by his son’s dramatic entrance.
“He was born in the hands of the police officers and they knew what to do,” Centeno said in Spanish, translated by Ana. “They were a great help.”
After the delivery, the mother and baby were then whisked to Stony Brook University Medical Center, where they were recuperating until their expected discharge Thursday.
A jaunty Christmas cap sat on Jancarlos’ downy head. He slept with nary a peep on his mother’s lap while she chatted with reporters Tuesday.
He was the picture of health, hospital officials said.
“Most babies that come like this are wonderful and healthy,” said Christina Kocis, director of the hospital’s midwifery division.
With Gary Dymski
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