They say moms can do it all. Apparently, for some, that includes delivering their own babies!
That’s exactly what a Kentucky mom named Heather Skaats did on May 15. She gave birth on the roadside as her five other kids waited in the car.
“I was having light contractions before we left, so I figured I had time to run an errand,” Heather told TODAY Parents.
The 34-year-old mom noted that her due date was three weeks away and that she labored for several hours with her previous children.
“I thought I wouldn’t have a baby in my arms until eight or ten hours later,” Heather said.
However, her contractions suddenly intensified and started occurring very close together, indicating that she was already in labor.
Heather started driving faster, hoping to have her home water birth as planned—just as she had in the past. But as it turned out, she didn’t have enough time.
“I pulled over — assured the kids that everything was OK — and then I grabbed my phone and got out of the van,” she recalled.
Heather was in a squat position on the ground near a grassy area when her water broke.
“I put my hand down there and his head started coming out with his body,” she said. “I didn’t even have to push. It was so quick. I was on the phone with my husband, Nick, and 20 seconds later, I was like, ‘He’s here!'”
Heather caught her newborn, who weighed seven pounds. The baby boy started crying right away and opened his eyes to look at his momma.
“I said, ‘Yeah, buddy that was fun, huh?'” she recalled. She quickly wrapped him in a blanket.
With the newborn still attached to her placenta, Heather slowly got back inside the car where her kids, Kaelynn, 13; Aneleigh, 11; Austin, 6; Luke, 3; and Alyssa, 2, eagerly waited to meet their new sibling.
Heather and her husband are also parents to Leilah, who passed away from cancer at the age of 4 in 2016.
“I wrapped him in a blanket and drove with him close to my chest,” she said. “I think the kids were in shock. They were pretty quiet.”
Once they got home, Heather delivered her placenta in the shower with the help of her eldest, Kaelynn. About 10 minutes later, her midwives arrived, and they helped pick the grass off her baby’s skin.
It’s incredible how Heather managed to stay calm throughout the ordeal, but she credits it to experience.
“I think having home births in the past sort of taught me to trust my body,” she said. “Knowing the process really helped.”
Heather and her husband are still thinking of names for the newest addition to their family. They’re considering Porter or Wolf—the names of the streets near where he was born.
Heather shared the happy news on her Facebook.
“I’m still in shock that I delivered my own baby on the side of the road. But he is perfect, all of the kids are happy to have him here, and today was a day I will never forget,” she wrote.
Heather also said that her husband wasn’t too happy about missing the big moment.
“But at least he was on the phone with me when I called to say ‘I’m going to have a baby on the side of the road,'” she wrote.
This mom is a real champ. Congratulations on your new bundle of joy, Skaats family!
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