Abington firefighters kicked off 2024 by welcoming a real-life Baby New Year.
Renai and Justin Townsend’s second child couldn’t wait to join the world, arriving in the backseat of a truck along Route 18 not long after midnight on Jan. 1.
“The baby is fine,” Renai Townsend said Tuesday. “He’s doing really well. He was a little chilly, but that makes sense considering he was delivered in a parking lot.”
Townsend, a first grade teacher in Rockland, was preparing lesson plans for her upcoming leave when she felt contractions start. They came on so fast and so quick – about three minutes apart — that she dismissed them as Braxton Hicks Contractions, or false labor pains. Besides, her first child came 10 days late.
“We just went about our business, but they kept getting stronger,” she said.
Townsend called her parents in Holbrook to come watch their 2 1/2-year-old son so they could head into Brigham & Women’s. By the time her parents arrived at their Bridgewater home, the contractions had “really escalated.” With Townsend’s father behind the wheel of his truck, the couple headed north on Route 18. Justin Townsend called 911 when his wife’s water broke en route shortly before 2 a.m., hoping parademics could be ready for them at South Shore Hospital.
“Within a couple of minutes of my water breaking, I started feeling like the baby was coming. I pushed maybe one time and he came out,” the new mom recalled. “He came out and I grabbed him and put him on my chest.”
Townsend’s father had pulled into the parking lot of Lowe’s and that’s where Abington Fire met them moments later.
“When they showed up, a couple of them seemed surprised,” said Justin Townsend.
Abington EMS Coordinator Justin Silva said the department trains for calls like these and were ready to go above and beyond simply ensuring everyone was OK and healthy — they also made sure many traditional post-delivery steps took place, such as skin-on-skin contact between mom and the newborn, and destressing the scene as much as possible.
“We had a birth plan, which didn’t really come to fruition, but in the ambulance we were able to get some things checked off,” Renai said. “[My husband] Justin cut the cord with his first son, and he got to do that again. Things like that we didn’t miss, which we appreciated.”
Silva deflected any kudos back to Townsend
“The mom did everything for the delivery and we were just here for support,” he said. “She is the extraordinary person in this story.”
Justin Townsend, a special education teacher at Nipmuc Regional High School, echoed the sentiments.
“This whole thing is pretty incredible, but she’s incredible,” he said. “Her instincts just kicked in.”
Abington Fire Chief Jack Glynn said most of the Abington firefighters on duty that night are fathers, which provided them some valuable extra training.
“She couldn’t have had a better trained staff with better empathy than she had [on duty that night],” Glynn said.
Silva, in particularly stood out to Townsend. When he arrived she immediately recognized him as one of the Abington firefighters who helped treat her during a car accident back in November.
“They were so great,” Townsend remembered. “The first time we met them, my two-year-old was with me and went with us in the ambulance to South Shore Hospital. They were doing their best to play with him and entertain him until my parents could get there.”
Despite his early, quick birth, the Townsends’ son wasn’t the first baby of the year at South Shore Hospital. But his dramatic appearance means he’s getting some extra attention.
“He’s kinda like a little superstar,” she said.
Silva said it was an exciting way for Abington Fire to start 2024.
“Call number one of the year,” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”
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