RUMFORD – A pregnant Bethel woman began having contractions in the back of a police car Saturday evening after she was arrested on a domestic violence charge.

Tiffany Burlingame, 23, of Bethel, gave birth later that night. She and the baby are both listed in satisfactory condition at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Burlingame was arrested after Rumford Police received a call from Robert Jamison, 18, of South Paris, saying he’d been assaulted by his wife. Both had been summonsed Friday night by the Bethel Police for domestic violence as well.

According to Rumford officer Doug Maifeld, who arrested Burlingame, the two got into an argument while driving on Prospect Avenue. The car stopped and Jamison got out and slammed the passenger-side door so hard the window broke. Jamison said Burlingame approached him and “assaulted him numerous times in the face.” Maifeld said Jamison’s lips were cut from the alleged attack.

Burlingame told Maifeld her husband had also slapped her in the face.

“She initiated the attack, so I determined that she was the primary aggressor,” Maifeld said.

Burlingame was given forms so that she could also press charges for domestic violence if she chose.

On the way to the police station, Burlingame, who was eight months pregnant, began going into contractions.

“I called Med-Care and had them meet me” at the police station, Maifeld said. “As soon as they got here, I transferred her to the ambulance.”

Maifeld said Burlingame gave birth at the Rumford Hospital, and that she and the baby were transported to Maine Medical Center for further care.

On Sunday, Maifeld called Jamison to follow up as Maine domestic violence law dictates. He learned that Jamison had visited the baby in Portland, and that the child was doing fine.