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Woman Gives Birth (To Twins!) At Roosevelt 'L' Station

By  Kelly Bauer and David Matthews | November 1, 2017 10:09am | Updated on November 1, 2017 5:41pm

SOUTH LOOP — The paramedics who helped a woman deliver twins Wednesday morning at the Roosevelt CTA stop had to improvise on the scene.

They even used a garbage bag to give the new mother some privacy while she labored in public.

"She's a tough girl, I'm beyond impressed," paramedic Maire Shields said.

"That's hopefully the first and last time I deliver twins," joked Rosa Perez, another paramedic.

The new mother was on her way back to Mercy Hospital, 2525 S. Michigan Ave., after her water broke Tuesday night, authorities said. The woman made it past the station's turnstiles, but went into labor before she could board the train. 

The first of the babies — both girls — was born before paramedics arrived. The second came six minutes after authorities got to the scene, and she needed assistance.

Shields said she tapped the second baby's chest to warm her up. 

"I said 'baby wake up, baby cry,'" Shields said. 

The mother stayed calm throughout, Shields said. The woman had names in mind for the fraternal twins, but Perez and Shields forgot them by Wednesday afternoon. 

At 7:30 a.m., the babies' birth was the paramedics first call of the day. No trains were delayed.

The babies and their mother were later taken to Mercy Hospital and found to be "doing well," a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday morning.

It's certainly not the first time a baby's been born at a CTA station: Last November, a woman gave birth to a baby on a Blue Line platform.

In March, another woman gave birth on Lake Shore Drive when her car got stuck in a snowstorm on the way to the hospital.