Skip to main content
Friday, November 13, 2026Nov 13

Woman gives birth on California freeway shoulder

In this Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 photo, Bolivar, left, and Sandra Vilchez, of Wildomar, rest with their newborn daughter, Savannah, at Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim, Calif.  Bolivar helped his wife deliver the couple's fourth child on the shoulder of the 91 freeway early Saturday morning after Sandra began having contractions while driving to her mother's home.  (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Nick Agro)   MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
In this Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 photo, Bolivar, left, and Sandra Vilchez, of Wildomar, rest with their newborn daughter, Savannah, at Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim, Calif. Bolivar helped his wife deliver the couple's fourth child on the shoulder of the 91 freeway early Saturday morning after Sandra began having contractions while driving to her mother's home. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Nick Agro) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT In this Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 photo, Bolivar, left, and Sandra Vilchez, of Wildomar, rest with their newborn daughter, Savannah, at Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim, Calif. Bolivar helped his wife deliver the couple's fourth child on the shoulder of the 91 freeway early Saturday morning after Sandra began having contractions while driving to her mother's home. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Nick Agro) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Marine Corps veteran Bolivar Vilchez was terrified as he helped his wife deliver their daughter on the side of a Southern California freeway.

The Orange County Register reports (http://bit.ly/1uTy4wt ) that 29-year-old Sandra Vilchez of Riverside County was on the way to her mother’s home early Saturday when she delivered baby Savannah.

She was due Sept. 26, but because Sandra Vilchez had to have all three previous children induced after carrying them to full term she had not been worried about an early birth.

But after leaving their home in a neighboring county for the drive, the contractions began and grew stronger quickly.

“I told my husband, ‘I think she’s coming now,'” she said. As the 18-year Marine Corps veteran rushed down the road, her water broke.