Mom talks about daughter's birth on the side of I-95 in Jacksonville

A local couple just welcomed a baby girl into the world, but her delivery was less than conventional. Baby Bella was born on the side of Interstate 95 while heading to the hospital on Saturday. Tiffany Johnson was on the phone with paramedics when she felt her daughter's head and that's when she knew her daughter was coming.

“He asked me 'do you see her head or feel her or anything' and I literally had her head in my hands and I threw the phone to my husband and I birthed her the rest of the way,” Johnson said.

She had to spring into action as she delivered baby Bella in their truck on I-95 while her husband was driving and her son sat in the back seat. Johnson’s husband pulled the truck over near Lem Turner Road to help his wife, and he had to get a little creative when it came to tying off the umbilical cord.

“They (paramedics) told us to tie the cord with anything we could find, so my husband tied it with a cellphone charger. Quick thinking and that was the only thing in the truck.”

Baby Bella was born within 17 minutes of Johnson’s water breaking. The baby came a month early, weighing 5 pounds 3 ounces, and was diagnosed with heart arrhythmia -- an irregular heartbeat. Johnson told us doctors say she’s responding well to medication and her personality is already showing.

The family also has a GoFundMe page to help with some unexpected costs.

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