Baby on board! Philadelphia woman gives birth on SEPTA bus

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Makira Williams is still trying to process what happened to her.

"I am still in shock actually," said Williams of Philadelphia's West Oak Lane section. "I can't believe I just had a baby on the bus."

Williams said she wouldn't believe the story if it hadn't happened to her.

"That happens in movies, or TV shows, not in real life," she said.

Williams was due to give birth on July 21, but baby Mazir had a different plan.

At around 9 a.m. on June 26, Williams went into labor on the Route 55 bus.

She said everything happened very quickly. The bus driver pulled over and, two pushes later, her bundle of joy was unexpectedly welcomed into the world.

"Somebody had scissors, trying to cut the umbilical cord and I am like 'oh no.' I know you are trying to cut the umbilical cord but no, you have to wait for the ambulance to stay on the safe side," said Williams.

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SEPTA confirms the baby delivery.

"I have never heard of an occasion in the 27 years that I have been here that someone actually had a baby on board the bus," said Shwana Rogers with SEPTA.

The transit agency commends the driver for his quick thinking but says it's not something they train for.

"No one is trained to deliver a baby. However we do train for emergency situations," said Rogers.

Williams says several passengers helped but there was one passenger in particular who served as an impromptu obstetrician.

But in the chaos and the rush to the ambulance, Williams never got the woman's name - or chance to show her appreciation.

"I just want to keep saying 'I thank you' to the girl, I wish I would have gotten her name because I don't want to keep calling her the girl. She was just so helpful. Now she knows how to deliver a baby whether she knows it or not, now she knows how to deliver a baby," said Williams.

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Just in case you are wondering, yes, baby Mazir already has a nickname.

"People already call him Baby 55. They call him Bus," said Williams.

Both baby and mom are doing fine. Mazir weighed 5-pounds and 12 ounces. His mom says she is still searching for the woman who helped to deliver him on that SEPTA bus.