Police in Secunda could not fold their arms and wait for an ambulance to arrive when a woman was in full labour, and decided to take it upon themselves to assist in delivering a healthy baby boy.

The baby boy took his first breath on the side of the road near Skyhill where two police constables helped to deliver him early yesterday morning.

The parents were en route to the Evander Hospital on a motorcycle at about 03:30 but had to pull off when the woman’s labour contractions worsened.

The Secunda police’s radio control room received a call about a couple sitting on the roadside next to their motorbike.

Constables Prudence Diwe and Jabulani Shongwe were dispatched and found the couple in distress. The police also called for an ambulance, but the woman was already in full labour.

The two members delivered the baby right there next to the road. When medical personnel arrived on the scene, the mother and baby were taken to the hospital.

Mpumalanga police commissioner Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela commended Diwe and Shongwe for going the extra mile.