CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A family in Cheektowaga is celebrating a Christmas miracle after a local dispatcher helped them deliver their baby on the side of the road last week.

What You Need To Know

  • A Cheektowaga dispatcher helped a father deliver a baby on the side of the road  
  • The parents and dispatcher are sharing how they worked together
  • The baby is healthy and doing well
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During a 911 call a father in Cheektowaga made to police while he and his wife were en route to the hospital…

"I pulled over to the side of the road in a parking lot and called 911. It's like a switch turned on in my head and I was just on auto-pilot," said the father, who wanted to remain anonymous.

Jennifer Mazgajewski says helping deliver a baby is a first for her in the 16 years she's been in public safety. She says she has a background with a local fire department and being an EMT. She jumped right into action and grabbed her cue cards. That's when her adrenaline kicked in.

"Do you have a string or a shoe lace to tie in case this baby comes out and we tie off the umbilical cord? “Yes, I'll take off my shoe lace." That was a part of the 911 call.

"The baby's head fully came out, so I gave him instructions and told him don't hold the baby in there, the baby is going to come out, I read my cue cards like I'm supposed to and I could hear the baby crying in the background, Mazagajewski said.

At that point, baby Alexandra was born. The family wanted to keep their last names anonymous for privacy, but they say Alexandra is healthy and doing well. The family had a message that they wanted us to relay to Jennifer.

"We just wanted to thank her and say that we couldn't have done it without her.”