NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida mother is sharing her story, days after she gave birth to a baby girl during her Lyft ride to the hospital in the middle of rush hour.
Speaking with 7News from Jackson North Medical Center in North Miami Beach on Friday, Sherllay Debe Petion opened up about her newborn daughter’s unique entrance into the world under an Interstate 95 overpass in North Miami.
The new mother can laugh about it now, but she said the actual chain of events was pretty intense.
“The Lyft ride was one of the craziest ones I’ve ever had,” she said.
Petion gave birth inside Lyft driver Inocles Trazial’s Toyota SUV on Northwest 135th Street, Wednesday afternoon.
When she requested the ride, in unbearable pain, she initially thought she was going to make it to the hospital.
“I said, ‘What’s going on, Jesus?'” said Petion. “But the Lyft was already there, and [the driver] looked at me, and he said, ‘Are you going?’ [I said], ‘Yes, sir, let’s go. Go! Hospital, go!'”
But they had to pull over.
Petion had already called her cousin, Cherley Zamor, who followed them.
“She just showed up inside the car, and then she took everything out, and one, two, three, the [baby’s] head was out,” said Petion. “She called 911, then by the time 911 came … then I pushed, like one, two, three. By the third or fourth push, the baby was already out.”
Zamor also spoke to 7News. She couldn’t help but smile.
“Guess what? I’m Godmama,” she said.
Zamor said she followed her instincts and proudly helped deliver her cousin’s baby.
“Lyftie baby is here, healthy,” she said. ‘Well, that’s what they’re calling her, Lyftie baby, so we’re going to keep that nickname for her.”
This baby girl’s due date was supposed to be Feb. 17.
“Her name is Bithia Jenna Debe-Petion,” said Petion. “Bithia means ‘daughter of the Lord,’ Jenna means ‘heaven.'”
The child’s father, Sonel Petion, met the little one. He is a truck driver and was on a truck. He said he couldn’t wait to be by their side.
“I was on the phone the whole time, yeah, the whole time on the phone until – I stayed connected,” he said.
It’s a crazy story, even for the Lyft driver. When asked whether anybody had ever delivered a baby in his vehicle while working for Lyft, Trazial replied, “It’s the first time.”
As for Petion, she said she’s thankful she had her cousin there to get her through it.
“She is – oh, I don’t know how to say thank you,” she said.
Petion said the staff at Jackson North have been incredible. She and Bithia Jenna have since been released from the hospital.
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