Pregnancy offers so many novelties: stretch marks, mood swings…and the chance to give birth to a slimy little human in the unlikeliest of places.
POST OFFICE
Sonia Marina Nascimento went to a post office in Wisbech, England in May 2009 to buy some minutes for her mobile phone—when her water broke. Postmaster Paul Childs, 58, jumped into action and moved Nasciemento from the lobby and into an office. Then, before an ambulance could arrive, Childs, his wife Helen, and an employee delivered a baby girl. “It was jolly good,” Childs said to reporters afterward. “She hadn’t even been having contractions. She dropped her jeans and out it popped.” Childs weighed the baby on a post-office scale. “She weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces,” he said. “We worked out that that’s the equivalent of an £8.22 first-class parcel.”
In August 2007, shrimp boat skipper Ed Keisel was 30 miles off the coast of Texas when his cook, Cindy Preisel, went into labor. Keisel grabbed a roll of paper towels and a first-aid book and got ready. But there was trouble: The baby came out breech, or feet first. “I’m no doctor,” Keisel said, “but even I knew that’s not supposed to happen.” He stayed calm, but there was more trouble: The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck. “So I did the only thing I could,” the skipper said. “I waited for a contraction, and then slid my fingers in around the top of his head and scooped him out.” But now the newborn wasn’t breathing. Keisel cleared the baby’s nose and mouth and gently performed CPR. After an agonizing 25 minutes, the boy sucked in air, turned red—and started bawling. “I was so happy and relieved,” Cindy Preisel said. “It’s hard to put into words.” She named the boy Brian, after his father—a crewman on the boat—and gave him the middle name Edward, after the skipper who delivered him.
Nicola and Dominic Delemere of Scunthorpe, England, took a flight from London to the Greek island of Crete in August 2007. Nicola was six months pregnant, far from full term. But at 30,000 feet, her water broke and she went into contractions. There were no doctors on board, so while the pilots turned the plane around, flight supervisor Carol Miller and a passenger delivered the baby—which weighed only one pound, one ounce. The tiny baby boy wasn’t breathing, so the quick-thinking Miller used a straw to clear fluids from the newborn’s lungs, gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and massaged his heart until the plane landed at Gatwick Airport. The boy was rushed to a hospital, where doctors said he’d gone too long without oxygen and had almost certainly suffered brain damage. They were wrong: Four months later, little Alfie Delemere was home and was expected to be just fine. And the airline offered the whole family a free flight.
Spivey’s Corner, North Carolina, hosts an annual festival to “revive the lost art of hollering.”
In February 2000, Sofia Pedro of Mozambique was about nine months pregnant when the Limpopo River flooded. To escape the rising waters, she, her two children, her mother-in-law, and several of their neighbors climbed a large tree—and were all trapped there for the next three days as the flood raged. On the third day, Pedro went into labor. Thinking fast, her mother-in-law tied Pedro to a branch with a blanket, then caught the baby when it arrived—with the floodwaters six feet below them. Just then, a rescue helicopter appeared overhead and a medic was lowered down. He cut the baby’s umbilical cord and hoisted baby and mom to safety. Everyone in the tree survived the disaster.
Danille Miller was working the night shift at a McDonald’s restaurant one night in December 2007 in Vancouver, Washington, when she suddenly ran to the restroom. A co-worker followed her in, asking if she was okay. Miller said something felt wrong, but she wasn’t sure what. Within a few minutes, she had her answer when she began giving birth to a baby. This was a shock—because Miller had no idea that she was pregnant. Her equally shocked co-worker told someone to call 911, then helped deliver a six-pound baby boy. Mom and baby (later named Austin) were transported to a nearby hospital, and both were fine.
Roto-Rooter contest prize: The “Pimped-Out John,” a toilet with built-in mini-fridge, TV & laptop.