Woman Gives Birth in New York City’s Times Square

Zachary Stieber
By Zachary Stieber
September 24, 2018US News
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A woman gave birth to a baby at a hotel in New York City’s Times Square on Friday, Sept. 21.

Police received a call about a woman in labor at the Westin Hotel, located on West 43rd Street in the city’s iconic Times Square neighborhood, and rushed over to help.

Officers Yan Poon, Zhan Ren, and Nicole Davis helped the 35-year-old woman give birth, reported Pix 11.

Also assisting: Fire Department of New York EMT Yan Hao Poon, who is Poon’s brother, and EMT Joseph Dinovelli-Lang.

The woman, later identified as Heather Smith, gave birth to a baby boy. They were then taken to a local hospital.

Brothers Team Up

Yan Poon said that he was too focused on the birth to even notice at first that his brother had shown up.

“It was chaotic at first,” he told the New York Daily News. “She was in active labor.”

Yan Hao Poon said that he administered aid to the newborn when he arrived.

“The baby was pale, not pink,” he said. “It was not getting enough oxygen. After a minute it gained its color and became more active.”

The brothers were happy to help but didn’t think their families would want to hear about it.

“We talk about our jobs all the time,” said Yan Poon. “I think our family is getting tired of hearing all of the stories.”

New York City Births

New York City’s birth rate was 14.1 births per 1,000 people in 2016, the last full year available; the population of the city was 8.5 million that year.

That rate is higher than the United States average, which was 12.2 births per 1,000 people that year, according to the New York City government.

Statistics show that the birth rate has been trending down both nationwide and in the city; the birth rate declined nearly 12 percent from 2007 to 2016.

The age group experiencing the most births in the city was women in their 30s, followed by women in their 20s. The racial/ethnic group with the most births was non-Hispanic blacks, followed by Hispanics, and then non-Hispanic whites. The lowest pregnancy rate was among Asians and Pacific-Islanders. All groups have experienced a decline in the past decade except for non-Hispanic whites.

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