MIAMI – Stela Niznik was on her way to work at her Chicken and the Egg restaurant Monday morning.
She had just left a yoga class.
“Usually you set an intention and I told myself my intention was to do something good for someone today,” she said.
Her intentions would be put to good use, driving through Downtown Miami, when she came across a car parked in the middle of the street, and a woman in need of help.
“The woman was pregnant and wearing a dress and I could see blood like all over her legs,” Niznik said.
She quickly pulled over and called 911.
“So the lady (on the phone) asked me what do you have in your car?” she said.
Niznik had her yoga mat. The 911 operator asked her to use it and follow her instructions.
“You need to take a look at what’s going on. Okay, so I look I’m like well, I see the head,” she said. “I see the baby’s head and the hair she said OK, now I need you to take a deep breath and I need you to stay calm you need to deliver this baby right now. I’m on the phone I’m like what? I like, my first thought was, I didn’t even sanitize my hands.”
There she was in the middle of Downtown Miami on a roadside curb.
“I mean I’m pushing with one hand and with the other hand I just started slapping her legs, yelling at her like crazy I’m like common mom! You got this, just keep on pushing, push!” she said. “I’m slapping her legs, pushing here and then eventually the baby just perfectly like landed in my hands.”
The perfectly healthy baby girl was delivered by a well-intentioned stranger who chose to stop.
Local 10 News caught up with the newborn’s father, who recently arrived from Haiti.
He recalled how no one stopped to help, except for Niznik, saying he didn’t have the words to describe how thankful he is.
“We don’t stop often enough, that probably could’ve turned out totally different,” Niznik said.