A Vancouver Island woman is resting at home with her family and new baby after giving birth this weekend in the cab of a pickup truck.
Elizabeth Hayes went into labour on Friday – two weeks before the baby’s due date.
She was being rushed to hospital in Courtenay, B.C., by her husband Sean when they realized their newest addition was just a little faster than they were.
“She said ‘I’m going to start pushing’ and I said ‘no you’re not,’” Sean told CTV News.
Their daughter Annalise was sitting in the backseat.
The front of a pickup truck is not exactly the ideal place to give birth but the expecting mother was not too concerned.
“Mother’s instinct I guess,” she said when asked if she was worried about giving birth in a vehicle.
“That kind of left my mind. Living in the moment I guess.”
Sean was able to keep his cool. He jumped out onto the road and flagged down another driver, who called paramedics.
But the baby wouldn’t wait, and Elizabeth gave birth before first responders arrived. Sean even tied off the umbilical cord.
“I reached over and turned the truck off and took the lanyard off my keys to tie off the umbilical cord and a couple moments after that the ambulance got there,” he said.
Paramedic Kerry Davies said she and her partner were shocked by the unusual scene they encountered when they arrived.
“The mother had just given birth in the front of the cab of the vehicle and the father was standing there smiling away,” she said.
Paramedic Robin Earp admitted it’s not the typical call they usually receive when it comes to a woman being in labour.
“Generally speaking they’re at home or in the hospital,” Earp said. “Typically we’re not picking them up at the side of the highway.”
Mom, dad and new baby Eliyana are happy and healthy, if not a little shell shocked by the experience.
And big sister Annalise has a story to tell when she gets back to school come September.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Scott Hurst
