Woman gives birth while crossing desert

A suspected female illegal alien gave birth Tuesday morning in the desert as she was entering the country illegally, officials said.

The incident brings the number of illegal aliens to give birth while entering the country to three in less than one week.

Rosalva De-Alba, 36, was traveling with a group of illegal aliens Tuesday morning when she went into labor in the area where Foothills Boulevard meets the Goldwater Air Force Range.

She said her legs began to hurt just before she experienced labor pains south of County 14th Street in the Foothills.

Minutes later, she had a new daughter.

"It happened really fast," she said via telephone in an interview. "I just thought my legs were hurting but the baby started coming out."

Residents in the area helped her with the child and took the pair, along with five additional illegal aliens she was with, to a Rural/Metro Fire Department station house.

From there she was transported to the Yuma Regional Medical Center for treatment.

De-Alba said she walked for several hours prior to having the baby and that she wasn't expecting to have the baby for another two months. She said she even visited a doctor in Mexico prior to heading north.

'(The doctor) told me not to lift anything heavy," De-Alba said, adding she didn't tell the doctor she was going to cross over.

She was returning from Mexico, where she had been visiting her sick mother, after having lived illegally in the United States for more than six years with her husband.