Karollyn Zepeda’s water broke at her Outer Sunset home on Saturday afternoon, and she and her partner, Nate Geminiano, set out in their Honda for Kaiser’s labor and delivery center. The route looked manageable at first: their GPS projected 15 minutes.

Then Highway 1 traffic slowed, and inside Golden Gate Park it stopped altogether. As the estimated arrival time climbed, Zepeda told Geminiano: “I’m scared. I’m about to have this baby in the car.”¹

Geminiano pulled over near Crossover and Martin Luther King Jr. drives, called 911 and began asking immobilized motorists for a doctor. He later described trying to stay composed while facing a delivery he was not prepared to handle: “I’m just trying to be cool, try to provide whatever support I can, because I have no idea what I’m doing.”¹

Help came not from a physician but from Katie Higgins, a coffee-shop owner with doula training from about 15 years earlier. Hearing that a woman was in labor, Higgins ran toward the car shouting, “I’m not a doctor but I’m a doula!” She found Zepeda already squatting in the front passenger seat and pushing.¹

The traffic jam became an improvised maternity ward. Bystanders brought towels, held up a blanket for privacy and found blue gloves; Higgins coached Zepeda and massaged her hips. For Zepeda, the stranger’s confidence changed the moment: “She just really knew what she was doing, and it made me feel confident and ready.”¹

Firefighters were dispatched shortly after 4:30 p.m., but the ambulance had to park roughly two blocks away and paramedics ran into the park. They arrived in time to deliver a healthy girl, while a fire engine followed to assist. Mother and baby were taken to hospital in good condition.²

The San Francisco Fire Department framed the episode as more than a traffic nightmare. Capt. Jonathan Baxter called the newborn’s arrival “a true testament to dedication, compassion and teamwork.”² For the parents, it was the same lesson from the passenger seat: a city at a standstill still moved quickly when it mattered.