Nguyen Huu Thang was on duty at the Mai Chi Tho-Dong Van Cong intersection in Thu Duc City on Tuesday afternoon when Nguyen Cong Ton, 31, frantically ran up and pleaded with him to clear the way amid a traffic jam so that his wife’s car could reach hospital.

Thang led the way on his motorbike, opening up a gap in the traffic and escorting the car to the hospital. His quick thinking was captured on camera by a member of the public.

"Doctors said late admission would jeopardize both my wife and child's lives," Ton said on Wednesday at Tu Du Hospital in District 1.

He promised to find the officer later to thank him.

His wife gave birth on Wednesday afternoon.

Ton said his wife was 36 weeks pregnant, two weeks short of her expected delivery date, but her water broke on Tuesday, and so he rushed to the hospital by a Grab car.

This is not the first time pregnant women have had help from traffic police officers in HCMC. Just last month two officers in District 5 cleared the way for a woman traveling from neighboring Dong Nai Province to HCMC to deliver a child.