Sunset Park woman gives birth on her stoop

September 16, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The ambulance crew takes Rebecca Giordano and baby Isaiah to the hospital. Photo courtesy of Renee Giordano

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Rebecca Giordano gave birth to a “step” son on Sept. 9. Little Isaiah Jones, the second child of Rebecca and her husband Chris Jones, was born on the stoop in front of the couple’s Sunset Park house – on the third step to be exact.

“It all happened so fast,” said proud grandmother Renee Giordano, executive director of the Sunset Park Business Improvement District (BID). “She thought she had more time. She thought she was going to be able to get to the hospital in time. I guess the baby had other ideas.”

Rebecca, a teacher, was due to give birth on Sept. 20. Isaiah couldn’t wait, it seems.

Sept. 9, which was the first day of school, Rebecca walked her four-year-old son Giovanni to school and then went to nearby Fifth Avenue to pick up a few things. The day was just like any other normal day.

In the afternoon, Rebecca went to get Giovanni from school and a few hours later, her family of three suddenly became a family of four.

“She felt like it was starting so she knew she needed to go to the hospital,” Renee Giordano told the Brooklyn Eagle. Rebecca and Chris, a teacher and musician, had planned to have the birth take place at Maimonides Medical Center, the hospital where her mom had her.

Rebecca was walking down the stairs of the stoop at 5:52 p.m. when she suddenly sat down on the third step and gave birth to her baby boy. The little guy weighed six pounds, two ounces at birth.

Isaiah was a star from the get-go. “Neighbors, kids, everybody gathered in front of the house to watch,” Renee Giordano said.

Police and an ambulance crew from NYU Lutheran Medical Center arrived quickly at the scene but Isaiah was quicker. “The ambulance guy cut the umbilical cord,” Renee Giordano said.

The crew transported mother and baby to Maimonides Medical Center.

Renee’s husband Tony Giordano, administrator of the Sunset Parker group on Facebook, shared the family’s exciting news on the social networking site.

“We all talk about the stoops of Sunset Park. Well us Giordanos have a new stoop story to add. Little Isaiah is the latest Sunset Park baby – umbilical cord cut on our stoop. Street blocked with ambulance, Fire Department and police. What a reception,” he wrote.

The baby’s timing gave Renee Giordano a lucky break. Sept. 20, Rebecca’s original due date, is the same day the Sunset Park BID is schedule to hold its annual festival on Fifth Avenue. As BID executive director, Renee Giordano is the organizer of the street fair. Thanks to Isaiah’s early debut, she won’t have to miss the festival.

It was perhaps fitting that Isaiah was born on the stoop, according to Renee Giordano, who said the stoop is the center of community life for many Sunset Park residents.

“We’re always on our stoop and everyone else is always on their stoops. It’s how you get to know your neighbors. Sunset Park is like a small town” the proud grandmother said.

Rebecca and Isaiah have since returned home from Maimondes Medical Center and are doing great, Renee Giordano said.