Earlier this month, a New York-bound Amtrak train ground to an unexpected halt at a station in Aberdeen, Maryland. The weather was fine and there were no fallen trees on the tracks. Instead, it was a baby who prompted the train delay.
On Feb. 20, Sheera Lowe was traveling to Philadelphia on the Amtrak train when she suddenly went into labor. Her due date was still two weeks away.
As her contractions intensified, Lowe stumbled into the cafe car of the train to seek help, the Washington Post reported.
“I think I’m in labor,” Lowe told a woman who was reading a book. “Can you please help me?”
The passenger rushed to Lowe's aid, and train employees soon alerted the conductor.
About 20 minutes later, the train stopped at the Aberdeen station and emergency personnel hopped on to assist. Within minutes, Trinity was born -- a healthy baby girl weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces.
Lowe, 26, told the Post that she was incredibly grateful for the good Samaritan’s help.
“She wouldn’t leave my side in the whole thing,” Lowe said. “I’m so happy and so grateful she stayed.”
Lowe knew little about the woman who assisted her, other than her name: Christina. But to honor that kindness, she gave the moniker to Trinity as a middle name.
Lowe was traveling home to Philadelphia after visiting her husband, Michael Stokes, in Kannapolis, North Carolina, where he recently started a new job, the Aberdeen Police Department reported. She actually visited Kannapolis with her 4-year-old daughter, but fortunately the child remained in North Carolina with her dad.
After Trinity's birth, both mom and baby were taken to the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center to rest. They were visited by police officer Robert Gibbons, who also assisted in the birth. He was “so touched” by the experience on the train that he wanted check in on Lowe and her special delivery.
