It was an unexpected, happy event among the torrent of death and suffering in Haiti caused by the massive Jan. 12 earthquake.

Ordinary Seaman Jean-François Cloutier, who is based with Canada's navy in Halifax, usually works as a steward in the officers mess aboard the Canadian Forces vessel HMCS Athabaskan, which was deployed to bring assistance to the Haitian coastal town of Leogane after the earthquake.

On Sunday, however, instead of delivering meals to the ship's officers, he found himself helping to deliver a baby boy.

Cloutier, who is trained as a medical technician, had gone ashore to help doctors look after Haitians who had suffered broken bones in the quake when he was asked to translate from French to English for a woman in a nearby medical tent.

"When we arrived there, there was a pregnant woman, and she was ready to give birth to a baby. I just happened to be there at the right time," Cloutier said Monday. "It's the unexpected … That was really, really intense."

The next day, Cloutier, who joined the Canadian navy a year ago, was back in the galley cooking and serving meals.

But, he was still thinking about the new baby boy he helped bring into the world.

"We suggested that they call him Jean-François, and I think she listened," Cloutier said with a laugh.