Baby Hiro born in Honda Civic parked on a Halifax street

A baby born in the passenger seat of a 2006 Honda Civic on Gottingen Street in Halifax Monday morning is at the IWK Health Centre, resting with his parents.

Hiroshi Masui's parents, Brett Cantlay and Yuki Masui, were driving to the hospital from their home in Dartmouth when they needed to pull over.

"I delivered my baby in my passenger side seat this morning," said Masui, in an interview with CBC News Monday afternoon outside the hospital.

Although Masui and his girlfriend Cantlay were expecting Hiroshi, they weren't anticipating his arrival so soon. He was due Aug. 9.

Masui said Cantlay began having contractions this morning. Once his dad arrived at their home to look after their other child, the two headed for the hospital.

He said Cantlay's water broke as they were driving over the Macdonald Bridge.

"We turned on to Gottingen Street and she said that the baby was coming and I pulled over in the first little parking lot I could find and got on 911 and about 30 seconds after 911 was called, I was holding the baby's head," said Masui.

"And then the rest came out and I was just holding my baby son and getting a little bit of a crowd around us."

Masui said he was still on the phone when he found himself cradling his son. One of the first people at the scene was an emergency medical technician, who brought a towel to help wipe off the infant and helped direct paramedics to the parking lot. ​​

'It was really special'

Brittany Harman, who is a nurse, was barely awake when she heard a woman screaming outside her apartment. By the time she dressed and got downstairs, she found Cantlay holding her newborn. 

"I just wanted to make sure they were calm and all the basics were covered. She did a really good job. It was pretty smooth," she said. "I'm just glad I got to be there. It was really special, even though it was in a car, it was really special."

Masui said mother and baby are doing well and have received a clean bill of health.

Masui said he and Cantlay had prepared an overnight bag for when their son would arrive, but he said more than half of it was left behind to drive to the hospital.

The people who live in the apartment building where he parked the car told him to leave it behind, that it would be fine. He spent a few hours cleaning the car this afternoon, though he's not sure if any type of detailing will remove the amniotic fluid.

"When you think back on it, it's like, 'Wow, that's not what I wanted to happen.' But now that it has happened and it's over with, it's kind of great that it happened. It's a story and it's something that you'll never do again," said Masui.