New Jersey

Rookie NJ Police Officer Delivers Baby Girl on 2nd Night of the Job

“It just feels good to be able to help. Whether it was my second night or in my tenth year."

What to Know

  • Rookie Berlin Borough Police Officer Mark Pieffer delivered a baby girl on his second night of the job last week.
  • Pieffer responded to a call for a woman in labor at the parking lot of Paris Caterers on Berlin Cross Keys Road in Berlin, New Jersey.
  • Pieffer later reunited with the newborn and her parents a week later.

A rookie New Jersey police officer’s second night on the job ended up being one he’ll never forget after he brought a baby girl into the world.

On Aug. 20, around 1:30 a.m., Berlin Borough Police Officer Mark Pieffer responded to a call for a woman in labor at the parking lot of Paris Caterers on Berlin Cross Keys Road in Berlin, New Jersey. When he arrived, he found the woman in a car. 

“The dad was yelling to me, ‘She can’t go. She’s not going to make it,’” Officer Pieffer told NBC10. “The baby’s coming now.”

Pieffer, a 31-year-old former teacher who had just started his new job as a police officer a day before, quickly grabbed a blanket and gloves.

“She was laying sideways and she was really calm,” Pieffer said. “So at that point I was like, ‘Okay, maybe we have some time here.’”

It turns out he didn’t however. As responding medics took their equipment out, the baby began to crown.

“I heard the mom let out a scream and then I looked over and I saw the baby’s head coming out,” Pieffer said.

Pieffer’s body cam captured the tense moments as he delivered the baby. Pieffer told NBC10 he had no training when it came to deliveries. It was simply his adrenaline that took over as he heard the child’s cries.

“The baby came right after that and I just held onto it as tight as I could,” Pieffer said.

After it was all over, Pieffer called his wife.

“At first she was like, ‘Ah that’s cool,’” Pieffer said. “Then she was like, ‘Wait. You just did what?’”

A week later, NBC10 was there as Pieffer met with the healthy baby girl and her parents.

“I’m happy everything turned out well,” the child’s mother told NBC10. “It’s a great story, now that’s for sure.”

For Pieffer, it was an incredible start to his career in law enforcement.

“It just feels good to be able to help,” he said. “Whether it was my second night or in my tenth year."

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