Woman gives birth in ambulance on Sunrise Highway

When Regina Jacoff woke up Monday morning, she knew her baby boy was on the way, but she didn’t expect him to be born in the back of an ambulance.

Jacoff and her father-in-law were headed from her Farmingdale home to South Nassau Communities Hospital when traffic was at a standstill on Sunrise Highway near Old Mill Road. She told him to pull over.

“[The roads] were clear at first,” she said. “But when we got by the Bellmore sign, traffic stopped. I told him the baby’s coming now.”

At 9:41 a.m., cops were notified and medical technicians Matthew Field and John Episcopo were the first at the scene. They assisted Jacoff in the delivery of a healthy baby boy, Aaron Franklin Jacoff. Both Regina and Aaron were taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital and are doing well.

“We placed her on a stretcher, put her in the back of the ambulance and that’s where she gave birth to her baby boy,” Field, of Merrick, said.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Episcopo, a Farmingdale resident, added. “Your training just kicks in. Once everything’s settled, the emotions start coming into play.”

This is the first time Field has helped deliver a baby, while Episcopo has done it five times.

While Regina was giving birth, her husband Andrew was given play-by-play by hospital personnel. He was driving from Rikers Island, where he’s a correctional officer.

“They were very cooperative and understanding,” he said. “They congratulated me on being a father again and then I came here.”

“I can’t even put my feelings into words,” Regina said. “I’m just so relieved.”