Do you have a crazy birth story? Like giving birth in a supermarket or a car?

[Justlostmybagel]

I love reading other women's birth stories, particularly the crazy, dramatic ones! Stuff like women who have had cryptic pregnancies and don't know they're pregnant, until they go into labour. Or giving birth in a snowstorm and not being able to make it to hospital. Or precipitous labours that end up with delivering a baby in a Tesco carpark.

I've read all the Reddit and mumsnet threads I can find so I'm searching for more, whilst I'm lying around and feeling rotten in my first trimester.

I would share my birth story with my first dd but it was a very very average hospital birth. The most notable occurrence, was being served four miniscule, plain, boiled potatoes for my post-birth meal. Not even butter or salt.

Mine's not that wild, as I was at the hospital. But I told the midwife I felt like pushing, and she said "I'm sure you do, you're having a baby" and swanned off out of the room. So I cracked on and the baby came without her there. My partner had to run out shouting to get someone to actually come!

I could have ended up having an eventful birth but somebody had the sense to check me before I was sent home.

I was told I wouldn’t be in labour as I was too quiet and calm, they said it would be a UTI causing me discomfort but they reluctantly checked me before I was sent home. I ended up being 10cm and baby was born within the hour. There was no UTI.

My friend who gave birth around the same time had her baby in the toilet as she wasn’t believed to be in labour either.

It was 34 years ago and my second child. In those days you routinely were given an enema. I had been having contractions all day so we left ds with my parents. About half twelve at night, the contractions ramped up and off we went to hospital. I was put on a monitor and told it would be ages yet. Then, after half an hour, the midwife administered an enema. I made it to the toilet but what was also coming out was a baby! I crawled out of the loo and told them I was pushing. They poopoohed me, said we'll have a look and lo and behold I was fully dilated. My husband was in the car park getting my case because they said nothing would happen quickly. So up on a trolley and it was burnt rubber tyres to the delivery room 😂. Dd was born within minutes.

33 years ago and second child, woke husband up as had backache, he roused a bit I went downstairs and looked at clock it was 1.45 am. Pain got worse so woke dh up properly and called mum to mind two year old. Into car at 2 am ish, as we drove round the corner my waters went. Told dh to go through the bloody red lights, he didn’t as there was a police car behind us, so told him bloody pull over, lovely policemen stopped and came to see what was happening while dh had a major panic. Policeman said they would blue light us the 7 minutes to the hospital at which point I told them not to worry as baby was coming. So our second son was born at the side of the road in the passenger seat of the car helped by 2 policemen one of whom had never seen a baby born before. After he was out and wrapped up in a police jacket we was escorted to the hospital. Perfect birth, no tears etc, baby happy and well. We arrived at the hospital at around 2.40 am and I was home four hours later. We had no boys name as I was convinced he was a girl so he was named after the two policemen, they kept in touch too. Dh still has a hot sweat when he thinks about that night he was utterly terrified, I was probably the calmest I had ever been for some reason.

Not really crazy, but amusing. My consultant, typically charming chap with lots of pull, agreed that DS was mahoosive. As his due date was a Bank Holiday he used his consultancy pull and decided to admit us for induction on the Thursday. Arriving at the hospital his Registrar was rather put out and wanted us to go home. In his opinion DS was going to be “about 7lb”. Quick offer to call Consultant and he grumpily agreed to start the process. DS arrived on the Friday night (his due date) and weighed in at 10.5lb.

Registrar who was still in duty, insisted on a re-weigh, despite DS being visibly mahoosive.

All babies in my mothers side are 10lbers. I weighed 10lb 9. When you know, you know 😉

My colleague got lost on the way to the hospital. His wife gave birth outside the maternity unit doors...

Not quite, but my waters went dramatically at an amusement park.

I remember in some disaster on the TV news, flooding somewhere in Africa. The TV reporter was in a boat (tiny row boat) while a women was giving birth up in a tree behind him.

My waters broke when I was home with DS1, drove myself to the hospital, had a minor car crash with a motor cycle rider on the way!

Third baby and was taken in for an emergency c-Section as I was experiencing placental abruption. I gave birth vaginally on the operating table, fully naked, no gas and air or anything.. with around 20 people in the room under bright theatre lights.. was this the kind of story you wanted? 😂..
the team had a debrief about it and it was a case study for training in the hospital. I know this as when said baby was admitted into hospital for RSV a few weeks later, they asked about the birth and the dr on the ward told me this 🫢

Went to the hospital for an induction (planned, no major urgency). Was told the anesthesiologist would arrive shortly for the epidural. He never did. Nobody even came into the room until right before the baby popped out despite my husband’s pleading. I gave birth with no pain medication at all and it was incredibly painful. i was not at all prepared for it… didn’t realize it was a possibility that nobody would be available to do the epidural.

This could have very nearly been me.

I was 10 days overdue with my first. Massively huge pregnant belly. Had a midwife appt in the morning, where i was in very early stages of pre labour, kind of occasional mild period pains, but not actual full on contractions. I'd passed my mucous plug so she decided a sweep wasn't necessary. Instead she suggested that i go for a gentle walk as that can help bring things on.

So i demand dh drives me to the local wood. We proceed up a path. The walk is actually really lovely, the sun was shining, the air was crisp, and at the fork in the paths i insist I'm having such a wonderful time that i want to do the longer route. We continue walking ever onward. The walk does exactly what the midwife hoped it would and the period pain like contractions evolve into something more, where I'm having to stop and hold onto trees to breathe through them. Dh is trying to be supportive, but is keen to get me back to the car as random people walking their dogs are now stopping him and asking if i need any assistance. I cheerfully tell them im absolutely fine (in between panting whilst clutching a tree) and waddle off. Eventually DH, hero that he is, finally manages to convince me to turn around and head straight back to the car park instead of completing the entire route, with promises of bacon sandwiches at home. By the time we get to the car park, I'm leaning on trees whilst swearing through the contractions as they've intensified so much.

We made it to hospital in time but dd arrived shockingly quickly once there.

With my dc3 I telephoned the midwives as something felt "off", midwife arrived and reassured that I was only 2-3cm and off she tottled to the kitchen to telephone the homebirth team to reassure them I had a good while to go. My husband at the time was wrangling my eldest two into coats & shoes to drop off at a friends..

I was very uncomfortable so hopped into the pre filled pool and all of the pain melted away. I felt much better, I rested for a little while on the side of the pool feeling absolute relief and the midwife popped her head around the door to ask how I was feeling. I explained I felt 100% better and I had no pain, cramps and I felt back to normal. When she looked into the pool dc3 was bobbing at the bottom of the pool and I was completely oblivious to the fact I had given birth! Dc was fine and now a happy healthy 7 year old!

#2: started having contractions at home. DH got the tens machine and we started timing. Pretty chilled out as #1 had taken 27 hours and ended with forceps and a spinal block. Regular and frequent from the outset. Not really painful though. (In hindsight, what I wasn't measuring was how long each contraction lasted, they were long and effective right from the start)

Went to the loo, waters broke. Called the hospital, they said as I was chatting to them etc it was clearly still early on so not to worry. My parents (our childcare for #1) lived a ferry ride away and the ferries stopped for a while in the night, so we pondered on it for a while and decided there was no need to call them yet.

A few minutes later the contractions felt odd, like I needed the loo. Realised that was what pushing felt like. (Never felt it with #1, she was brow presentation and labour stalled.)

Called hospital back, they told DH to get towels, warm water, and call an ambulance.

Ambulance appeared and I am in full on labour. They're trying to entice me across the room to them by waving gas and air at me, I head to the ambulance while begging DH to get my dressing gown so our new neighbours didn't see my bits.

Head off to hospital, DS shoots out like a little rocket about 10 mins from home, just outside Ashurst on the A35. 9lb11oz in about 1.5 hours from start to finish. His birth certificate reads "Ashurst in transit to ...".

Nasty 3rd degree tear and massive PPH, fairly inevitable I feel.

Not a crazy birthday story, but special to us nonetheless.

#3 was a perfect blend of his predecessors. Tracking large like his brother, medical team keen for me not to have an uncontrolled full term labour in case I ended up with as much damage as I had previously. And I tested positive for strep b when pregnant so they wanted to make sure I didn't have a precipitous labour again and miss out on the antibiotics. So had a sweep at 39 weeks, but had to go home as no room in the labour ward. Waters went in the night, hosp said to stay home anyway as could be hours etc. called them back and reminded them of the big red sticker on my notes about strep etc, they said to come in. Had antibiotics, started pushing, perfect little 8lb4oz boy appeared around 4 hrs from waters going, not even a graze.

I had a breech birth in 1989, my son was a footling breech, his foot was out for about 20 minutes before the rest of him arrived, arm twisted up in an awkward position and he swallowed a lot of mucus so was a little blue on arrival. He was jaundiced and spent his 1st week in SCBU looking like a right chunk at 7lbs 9 next to the 2lb baby girl in the other cot.
My delightful obstetrician said I didn't need a caesarean a few weeks before I went into labour as I had good childbearing hips! I gave birth in the local teaching hospital with a room full of students and as they'd topped up my epidural a little late, I coughed and laughed him out! Quite the experience for an absolutely clueless 19 year old. My son is now a strapping 6 foot and a Dad himself, so it worked out well in the end.

Not super duper exciting but my DC3 was born at home which wasn't planned. My labour was much faster than my previous two, and the second stage was probably less than half an hour or so and started very suddenly as I was attempting to get dressed to go to the hospital. DH delivered the baby with telephone support from the ambulance service. Thankfully there were no complications and it was my best labour and birthing experience of the three even though it was very much not as planned!

I’m a midwife and I’ve had a fair few surprising/crazy births. I have a couple of personal favourites >

Looked after a lady who was admitted to Gynaecology Unit for Abdominal Pain but when they felt her tummy, they were a bit concerned her uterus was very high - scanned her, and estimated 8/9 months pregnant and in labour (woman had ZERO idea!)

Ive run down to the car park before to help deliver a baby in the front of the woman’s, dads new Mercedes.

Helped deliver a baby in the corridor on the way to a room after getting out of the lift too.

These stories are amazing
well done mums

Had a sweep at 4pm on the Sunday at 40 weeks and got told I was nowhere near ready and anothervsweep was booked for 5 days time. Had some mild cramps in the night and woke up on Monday with regular hit not awful cramps. Come 4pm I go into the birthing unit (in a fork KA...through a traffic jam) with bad cramps. I walk In and they look at me in the corridor and say "I can tell you now you're not in labour as you're still standing. They have a look, say I have days to go and send me home.

Back through the traffic jam I go and get home for 5pm. My dad turned up at the same time, took one look at me and told me we were going back now. Obviously I protested but gave in and got In his car. Back through the traffic we go and arrive back at the unit by 6pm.

This time they took one look at me, ushered me In to a room, turned the bath thing on and asked to look. As midwife looked, literally as she put her head down there, my waters went and baby was born before the bath filled 🤣 no gas and air of course (she says, knowing the DC she's got) because DC had decided they were making an entrance, passed meconium, and nothing could slow them down!

The first midwife came to find me when she came back on shift and apologised 🤣

I know someone who went for a sweep at the gp surgery with the community midwife. No signs of labour. Midwife went to do the sweep and she was 10cm, midwife asked her if she wanted to push and baby was born less than a minute later.

It was in Mozambique, March 2000. Ds1 was born the next day. My midwife commented that I was unusually calm. I said it was because I wasn't up a tree!

Tragically I remember that the poor lady in Mozambique had been in the tree with her mother, but the mother was washed away by the flood. I believe that she and her baby were rescued, however.

I also know a different women who with her first baby she knew she was pregnant, at 9 months thought she needed a poo. Had the baby in the toilet and didn’t realise she’d had it, shouted for her dh as couldn’t work out what was hanging out (snapped cord). Her dh pulled the baby out the loo!

Cousin had baby in the hospital corridor after en being told to go for a walk as she was only 2cm.
Things progressed fast, and she was literally on all 4's in the corridor bless her!

Not me but a girl from my village.

we went out and then she felt very sick and stomach ache. We put it down to the large meal we’d eaten and all the drink!!! Text her the next day to see how she was and she was in hospital with suspected appendicitis.

She came home with her son a few days later.

No one including her or her parents she lived with knew she was pregnant.

A near miss here. I live in the S of England. At 35 weeks with DC2 I was scheduled to go up to Scotland on the sleeper train and give a work presentation in Dundee. Thought this would be fine as DC1 born at 41+4. The night before I was due to take the train north, my waters broke. Had to cancel the presentation and head into hospital instead. Colleagues in Dundee apparently not impressed at this excuse 🙄. Monitored in hospital all day, no other signs of labour so DH sent home. Early hours of the next morning, contractions kicked in and DD born 45 mins later - exactly the time I would have been pulling into Dundee on the sleeper. DH didn't even make it back in time. Thanked my lucky stars I had not ended up with a premature newborn 8 hours drive from home!!