One mom-to-be got quite the surprise during her Metro ride Thursday morning.
Shavonnte Taylor, 23, delivered her 8-pound, 5-ounce baby boy on the platform of the L'Enfant Plaza station about 10:45 a.m., Metro Transit Police said on Twitter.
"It happened within 10 minutes," she told News4 of the birth.
Taylor went into labor on a Green Line train and stepped onto the platform. The station manager told News4's Adam Tuss that she cried out, "I'm having my baby!"
"Popped right out like she was a quarterback," Station Manager Saa Alpha said.
Fortunately, an EMT on the train also stepped off and helped deliver the baby. Another passenger offered the shirt off his back for the new mom; a third offered hand sanitizer.
"I've never seen anything like it, a baby being born, not even my own children," Alpha said.
Mother and son were transported to the George Washington University Hospital. Both are doing fine.
"I'm just tired," Taylor told News4 Thursday evening.
The baby has been named Amir-Mason Taylor.
He was born just a day before Pierre L'Enfant's birthday. The architect of Washington, D.C. -- and namesake of the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station -- was born Aug. 2, 1754, Catherine Cooke (@catherinecooke) pointed out on Twitter.
Metro General Manager Richard Sarles penned a letter to to Taylor, congratulating her on the birth of her son and gifting her with a $100 SmarTrip card.
"Congratulations on the birth of your son!" Sarles wrote in a handwritten note. "I am sure that the delivery did not go exactly as you had imagined, but I hope that our employees and customers who assisted you were a source of support and comfort. Please accept the enclosed SmarTrip card worth $100 in Metro fare... as our gift."
Metro noted that the arrival of the baby did not cause any train delays.
A baby was just delivered ON THE PLATFORM at L'Enfant Plaza. MTPD on scene. Additional details will follow. #WMATA
— Metro Transit Police (@MetroTransitPD) August 1, 2013
.@KidPoetic @jmp_nyc No exit fare required; kids under 4 ride free. ;-)
— Metro Transit Police (@MetroTransitPD) August 1, 2013
Congratulations to Shavonnte Taylor on the birth of your new baby boy, Amir! pic.twitter.com/TRAN9Ca1uh
— @wmata (@wmata) August 1, 2013