A woman gave birth to a baby in a car on the roadside in central Wellington this morning, with the help of a police officer, the father and a friend.
A police spokesman said a constable was travelling down Aotea Quay near Westpac Stadium just before 7am.
"He saw a car pulled over on the side of the road, and a woman who looked quite panicky and on the phone. He pulled over to see if he could help."
He said the woman, who was with the father of the baby and another woman, was about to give birth.
"The baby was well and truly on its way."
The constable, who was an ex-army medic, called the ambulance and made sure it was on its way.
"While that was happening, baby arrived."
The spokesman said while the officer was there to offer his support, it was "all down to mum and dad".
A Wellington Hospital spokesman said both the mother and baby are in a stable condition.
Earlier this month, a woman who gave birth on the side of an Auckland motorway got the chance to meet the officer who played midwife, and helped ensure the safe delivery of her first child.
Shanelle Curtis (19) went into labour five days before her due date last month.
When her contractions became closer together, she left her Otahuhu home with her mother and her sister and headed for Auckland City Hospital, where her midwife was waiting.
However, as they neared the Mt Wellington exit she knew she wasn't going to make the hospital, and her sister spotted a police car and flagged the driver down.
Constable Errol Diprose pulled over and immediately got on his radio to call for an ambulance. But he knew there was no time and ended up delivering the baby - a healthy boy named Xarien.
- By Nikki Papatsoumas of NZME News Service
