As her five children waited in the car, a mother gave birth on her own.
Heather Skaats, from Kentucky, gave birth on the roadside three weeks before her due date. To today, she explained, “I was having light contractions before we left, so I thought I had time to run an errand.” She thought the time during labor would be longer because her other children’s births-Kaelynn, 13, Aneleigh, 11, Austin, 6, Luke, 3, and Alyssa, 2-had taken a very long time.
“I thought I wouldn’t hold my baby until eight or ten hours later,” Skaats said. Skaats’ contractions suddenly became stronger and closer together, indicating that labor had begun. According to Skaats, she began driving faster in the hope of having a home water birth as planned. However, it soon became apparent that she would not have enough time.
Skaats said, “I pulled over, assured the kids that everything was fine, then got out of the van and had a baby.” She added, “Got out of the car, went to the grass on the other side, and literally had a baby. I thought that only happened in movies!” per Mouths of Mums.
It was so quick. I was on the phone with my husband, Nick, and 20 seconds later, I was like, ‘He’s here!'” She then drove home with the child still attached to her body. She said, “I wrapped him in a blanket and drove with him close to my chest. I think the kids were in shock. They were pretty quiet.”
When she gave birth, Skaats recalled, “He started crying right away, and he just opened his eyes and looked at me and I said, ‘Wow, that was fun, huh?'” She delivered her placenta while in the shower with the help of her 13-year-old daughter, Kaelynn, when she and Kaelynn arrived at the house. Skaat’s midwives arrived in 10 minutes.
Skaats has given birth to six children before and said that, “Knowing the process really helped.” She and her husband had a daughter named Leilah, who passed away from cancer when she was four years old, in 2016.
Skaats and her husband are brainstorming names for their new baby. He might be named Porter or Wolf, after streets near where he was born.
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