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Woman Gives Birth To Son In Huntington Beach Library

HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBS) — A Huntington Beach church pastor's wife, who unexpectedly went into labor and gave birth during the congregation's Sunday service, was set to be go home from the hospital Monday with her son.

Jennifer Wagner thought she was having normal contractions and did not suspect she was about to give birth to her fourth child, so she left the service at the Huntington Beach library to take a walk, said churchALIVE assistant minister Tricia Kruly.

"While she was out walking around, her water broke," Kruly said.

Wagner, who has three daughters with churchALIVE Pastor Jerrod Wagner, returned to the library where the evangelical Christian congregation meets for services and went to the bathroom, Kruly said.

"Then she starts giving birth in the stall," Kruly said. "A couple of women were close by and they said, `OK, we'll catch him."'

The pastor's wife never had such an easy delivery, Kruly said.

"She didn't have the normal labor pains or anything. He came just like that," Kruly said.

The timing couldn't have been better, she said.

"Five minutes later and the doors of the library would have been closed and the security guard wouldn't have been there," Kruly said. "She would have been having a baby in the park."

The Brea couple named their newborn Titus Sebastian Wagner.

Huntington Beach Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Lopez confirmed that paramedics were called to the library to help with a birth on Sunday.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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