A livery cab driver from Bushwick, Brooklyn, was recently in the right place at the right time when he picked a couple up at their home last month. Just moments after the ride began, the female passenger began to give birth in the back seat of his car — springing the driver, Luis Leonardo, into action. Now, dash-cam footage of the mighty miracle is going viral, with viewers praising Leonardo for calmly acting as a de facto birth coach to the anxious new parents.
Leonardo later said he knew there was a chance his passenger could give birth when she first climbed in the car. Still, it took him by surprise.
According to the New York Post, the wild ride happened about 5:30 a.m. July 13*,* when Leonardo, 33, was asked to drive the parents-to-be to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Park Slope. But the hospital wasn't a quick trip around the block — it's a 35-minute drive on good day with low traffic, ABC 7 reports.
"As soon as he said Methodist I said, 'My man, you're kinda far,'" Leonardo told ABC 7. "And he said, 'Oh that's the one where all the doctors are.'"
But the driver had his doubts.
"And I'm like, 'Okay, it might happen in the car … '" Leonardo recalled.
Sure enough, only eight minutes into the drive, his female passenger started to have contractions — which is how Leonardo suddenly found himself acting as a calm, cool, and collected birthing coach to the parents as they welcomed their new daughter to the world mid-ride.
“Oh no," the new mom can be heard saying in the dash-cam footage. "She’s coming. Oh [expletive]. Oh my God, she’s coming out.”
But Leonardo, remaining cool as a cucumber, kept reassuring her.
"Honey, you got to breathe, mami," he tells her in the video.
In his interview with ABC 7, Leonardo admits he thought the new mom was joking — at first.
"I thought she was playing in the beginning," he said. "And when she screams out, 'Oh the head is in my hand,' I'm like oh she's serious in this situation."
The driver kept encouraging her throughout the car ride, especially as it became more and more clear that yes, this baby was definitely on the way.
“Pull it out," he says in the video. "Do the magic. Do the magic. Spread your legs, damn."
In the footage, it's clear that the baby was born en caul (or still within the amniotic sac). But even that didn't phase Leonardo.
"Take the bag off the face, boom!" he can be heard telling her. (Which, quite honestly, was pretty good advice.)
Leonardo also tried to keep the mood light after the baby was born, as the parents scrambled to collect themselves after their surprise delivery.
“You got your kid, you got your kid," he told them. "That’s it, shut it down! Just move it off the seat. The baby’s alright just move the legs off the seat. We’re driving. Everything is done. You got the [expletive] done. God bless the baby.”
By the end of the video, the baby appears to be safe and breathing easily, as parents share their name for the little girl: Naomi.
“Boom!" Leonardo says. "We’re Gucci."
The best part of the video, however, comes at its end, when Leonardo jokingly asks the dad if he'd hook him up with "a little extra for the car wash."
Leonardo told ABC 7 that the parents did "make it right" when it came to getting the mess in the back seat cleaned. And even better, the three of them plan to meet up later this summer at a block party.
Incredibly, he also added that this is the third time a woman has given birth in the back of his car during his eight years working as a driver.
"I picked up two and dropped off three — simple as that," he said.
(Talk about a full-service ride!)
